Genetic variations associated with drug resistance

ABSTRACT

Methods and compositions are provided to determine if a cancer is resistant to treatment with anti-mitotic agents, including treatment with T-DM1. The methods relate to determining if the ABCC3 gene is amplified and/or overexpressed in the cancer.

This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.12/922,420, filed Feb. 24, 2011 which is a national stage entry filedunder 35 USC § 371 of PCT Application No. PCT/US2009/036985, filed Mar.12, 2009, which claims benefit of priority under 35 USC § 119(e) ofprovisional Application No. 61/036,874, filed Mar. 14, 2008 andprovisional Application No. 61/054,064, filed May 16, 2008, the fulldisclosures of which are hereby incorporated by reference in theirentireties.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention generally relates to genetic variations that arepredictive of drug resistance.

BACKGROUND

A key goal of modern molecular oncology is identifying the underlyinggenetic and genomic variations that characterize a given tumor so thatthe patient can receive targeted therapy with chemotherapeutic agentslikely to provide the most benefit. Breast cancer is the most commonform of cancer among women in the Western World, with an estimated 1million new diagnoses and 400,000 deaths per year worldwide (1). Theadvent of targeted therapies such as Tamoxifen for estrogen receptorpositive cancer (2) and Herceptin for tumors harboring amplification ofthe HER2 oncogene (3) has had significant impact on patient survival,yet various chemotherapy regimens still form an important component ofbreast cancer treatment (4). Breast cancer is a heterogeneous diseasewith distinct molecular subtypes characterized by differential responseto targeted and chemotherapeutic agents. While chemotherapy is asuccessful treatment regimen in many cases, an estimated 50% of patientsfail to benefit due to intrinsic or acquired multidrug resistance (1).Multidrug resistance (MDR) refers to the resistance of cancer cells tomultiple classes of chemotherapeutic drugs that can be structurally andmechanistically unrelated and is related to the overexpression of avariety of proteins that act as ATP-dependent efflux pumps (5).Understanding the molecular alterations that contribute to MDR in breastcancer is a crucial first step in enabling the development of diagnostictests capable of predicting resistance to a given therapy and rationallyselecting more efficacious therapeutic agents.

ABCC3 overexpression has been implicated in acquired multidrugresistance in cancer cell lines in previous studies. For instance, Liuet al report 459-fold overexpression of ABCC3 relative to the parentalin a cell line, MCF-7/AdVp3000, that was derived by selection for growthin the presence of doxorubicin (36). In addition, it has recently beenshown that treatment of carcinoma cell lines with vincristine results insignificant upregulation of ABCC2 and ABCC3 transcripts in these cells(37). The related pumps ABCC2(MRP2) and ABCC10 (MRP7) have both beenshown to confer paclitaxel resistance when overexpressed (38) (39), andABCC2 has been shown to be an important determinant of paclitaxelpharmacokinetics in vivo in mouse models (40). Paclitaxel has not beenpreviously demonstrated to be a substrate for ABCC3 and indeed studiesof ectopic overexpression of ABCC3 in MDCK or NIH-3T3 cells have failedto demonstrate increased resistance to paclitaxel (41, 42). Notably, itwas also found (41) that ABCC3 cannot confer resistance to doxorubicinin long term assays despite other published reports of functionalstudies suggesting a role for ABCC3 in transporting this agent (36).

These various observations illustrate the fact that breast cancer is aheterogeneous disease that can evade chemotherapy through multiplemechanisms and highlight the need for panels of biomarkers that can beused to predict therapeutic response in individual cancer patients.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

One aspect of the present invention provides for a method fordetermining whether a cancer in a patient is resistant to treatment withan anti-mitotic agent, comprising detecting whether the ABCC3 gene isamplified in a test cancer sample from the patient, whereinamplification of the ABCC3 gene indicates that the cancer is resistantto treatment with the anti-mitotic agent. In one embodiment, the testcancer sample is a cancer tumor sample.

The amplification of the ABCC3 gene is detected, for example, bydetermining the copy number of the ABCC3 gene. In some embodiments acopy number of at least 3 indicates ABCC3 gene amplification, in otherembodiments, a copy number of at least 5 indicates ABCC3 geneamplification.

The copy number of the ABCC3 gene is determined, for example, byfluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH), Southern Blot,immunohistochemisty (IHC), polymerase chain reaction (PCR), quantitativePCR (qPCR), quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR), comparative genomichybridization, microarray based comparative genomic hybridization, orligase chain reaction (LCR).

Another aspect of the invention provides for a method for determiningwhether a cancer in a patient is resistant to treatment with ananti-mitotic agent, comprising detecting whether the ABCC3 gene isoverexpressed in a test cancer sample from the patient, whereinoverexpression of the ABCC3 gene indicates that the cancer is resistantto treatment with the anti-mitotic agent.

In one embodiment, overexpression of the ABCC3 gene is detected bydetermining the level of mRNA transcription from the ABCC3 gene. In someembodiments, overexpression of the ABCC3 gene is indicated by an atleast 5-fold increase in mRNA transcription level from the ABCC3 gene inthe test cancer sample relative to a control sample. In otherembodiments, overexpression of the ABCC3 gene is indicated by an atleast 25-fold increase in mRNA transcription level from the ABCC3 genein the test cancer sample relative to a control sample.

In another embodiment, overexpression of the ABCC3 gene is detected bydetermining the level of ABCC3 polypeptide expression. In someembodiments, the level of ABCC3 polypeptide expression comprisescontacting the test cancer sample with an anti-ABCC3 antibody anddetecting binding of the anti-ABCC3 antibody to ABCC3 polypeptide. Insome embodiments, overexpression of the ABCC3 gene is indicated by an atleast 2-fold increase in the level of expression of ABCC3 polypeptide inthe test cancer sample relative to a control sample. In otherembodiments, overexpression of the ABCC3 gene is indicated by an atleast 10-fold increase in the level of expression of ABCC3 polypeptidein the test cancer sample relative to a control sample.

In some embodiments, the cancer is selected from the group consisting ofbreast cancer, ovarian cancer, and colorectal cancer.

In some embodiments, the anti-mitotic agent is selected from the groupconsisting of taxanes (including, for example paclitaxel and docetaxel),maytansinoids (including, for example, DM1 and DM4), and auristatins(including, for example, monomethyl auristatin E (MMAE) and monomethylauristatin F (MMAF)), and analogs and deriviatives thereof.

In some embodiments, the anti-mitotic agent is conjugated to anantibody. In one embodiment, the anti-mitotic agent-antibody conjugateis a maytansinoid-anti-Her2 antibody conjugate, such as trastuzumab-DM1.

Another aspect of the invention provides for a method for determiningwhether a breast cancer tumor is resistant to treatment with ananti-mitotic agent, comprising detecting whether the ABCC3 gene isamplified in a breast cancer tumor sample, wherein amplification of theABCC3 gene indicates that the breast cancer tumor is resistant totreatment with the anti-mitotic agent.

The amplification of the ABCC3 gene is detected, for example, bydetermining the copy number of the ABCC3 gene. In some embodiments acopy number of at least 3 indicates ABCC3 gene amplification, in otherembodiments, a copy number of at least 5 indicates ABCC3 geneamplification.

The copy number of the ABCC3 gene is determined, for example, byfluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH), Southern Blot,immunohistochemisty (IHC), polymerise chain reaction (PCR), quantitativePCR (qPCR), quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR), comparative genomichybridization, microarray based comparative genomic hybridization, orligasc chain reaction (LCR).

Another aspect of the invention provides for a method for determiningwhether a breast cancer tumor is resistant to treatment with ananti-mitotic agent, comprising detecting whether the ABCC3 gene isoverexpressed in a breast cancer tumor sample, wherein overexpression ofthe ABCC3 gene indicates that the breast cancer tumor is resistant totreatment with the anti-mitotic agent.

In one embodiment, overexpression of the ABCC3 gene is detected bydetermining the level of mRNA transcription from the ABCC3 gene. In someembodiments, overexpression of the ABCC3 gene is indicated by an atleast 5-fold increase in mRNA transcription level from the ABCC3 gene inthe test cancer sample relative to a control sample. In otherembodiments, overexpression of the ABCC3 gene is indicated by an atleast 25-fold increase in mRNA transcription level from the ABCC3 genein the test cancer sample relative to a control sample.

In another embodiment, overexpression of the ABCC3 gene is detected bydetermining the level of ABCC3 polypeptide expression. In someembodiments, the level of ABCC3 polypeptide expression comprisescontacting the test cancer sample with an anti-ABCC3 antibody anddetecting binding of the anti-ABCC3 antibody to ABCC3 polypeptide. Insome embodiments, overexpression of the ABCC3 gene is indicated by an atleast 2-fold increase in the level of expression of ABCC3 polypeptide inthe test cancer sample relative to a control sample. In otherembodiments, overexpression of the ABCC3 gene is indicated by an atleast 10-fold increase in the level of expression of ABCC3 polypeptidein the test cancer sample relative to a control sample.

In some embodiments, the breast cancer tumor is a Her-2 positive breastcancer tumor.

In some embodiments, the anti-mitotic agent is selected from the groupconsisting of taxanes (including, for example paclitaxel and docetaxel),maytansinoids (including, for example, DM1 and DM4), and auristatins(including, for example, monomethyl auristatin E (MMAE) and monomethylauristatin F (MMAF)), and analogs and deriviatives thereof.

In some embodiments, the anti-mitotic agent is conjugated to anantibody. In one embodiment, the anti-mitotic agent-antibody conjugateis a maytansinoid-anti-Her2 antibody conjugate, such as trastuzumab-DM1.

Another aspect of the invention provides for a method for selecting abreast cancer patient for anti-mitotic agent-based chemotherapycomprising a) detecting whether the ABCC3 gene is amplified in a testcancer sample from the patient, and b) selecting the patient foranti-mitotic drug-based chemotherapy if amplification of the ABCC3 geneis not detected in the test cancer sample.

The amplification of the ABCC3 gene is detected, for example, bydetermining the copy number of the ABCC3 gene. In some embodiments acopy number of at least 3 indicates ABCC3 gene amplification, in otherembodiments, a copy number of at least 5 indicates ABCC3 geneamplification.

The copy number of the ABCC3 gene is determined, for example, byfluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH), Southern Blot,immunohistochemisty (IHC), polymerase chain reaction (PCR), quantitativePCR (qPCR), quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR), comparative genomichybridization, microarray based comparative genomic hybridization, orligase chain reaction (LCR).

Another aspect of the invention provides for a method for selecting abreast cancer patient for anti-mitotic agent-based chemotherapycomprising a) detecting whether the ABCC3 gene is overexpressed in atest cancer sample from the patient, and b) selecting the patient foranti-mitotic drug-based chemotherapy if overexpression of the ABCC3 geneis not detected in the test cancer sample.

In one embodiment, overexpression of the ABCC3 gene is detected bydetermining the level of mRNA transcription from the ABCC3 gene. In someembodiments, overexpression of the ABCC3 gene is indicated by an atleast 5-fold increase in mRNA transcription level from the ABCC3 gene inthe test cancer sample relative to a control sample. In otherembodiments, overexpression of the ABCC3 gene is indicated by an atleast 25-fold increase in mRNA transcription level from the ABCC3 genein the test cancer sample relative to a control sample.

In another embodiment, overexpression of the ABCC3 gene is detected bydetermining the level of ABCC3 polypeptide expression. In someembodiments, the level of ABCC3 polypeptide expression comprisescontacting the test cancer sample with an anti-ABCC3 antibody anddetecting binding of the anti-ABCC3 antibody to ABCC3 polypeptide. Insome embodiments, overexpression of the ABCC3 gene is indicated by an atleast 2-fold increase in the level of expression of ABCC3 polypeptide inthe test cancer sample relative to a control sample. In otherembodiments, overexpression of the ABCC3 gene is indicated by an atleast 10-fold increase in the level of expression of ABCC3 polypeptidein the test cancer sample relative to a control sample.

In some embodiments, the breast cancer patient has Her-2 positive breastcancer.

In some embodiments, the anti-mitotic agent is selected from the groupconsisting of taxanes (including, for example paclitaxel and docetaxel),maytansinoids (including, for example, DM1 and DM4), and auristatins(including, for example, monomethyl auristatin E (MMAE) and monomethylauristatin F (MMAF)), and analogs and deriviatives thereof. In someembodiments, the anti-mitotic agent is conjugated to an antibody. In oneembodiment, the anti-mitotic agent-antibody conjugate is amaytansinoid-anti-Her2 antibody conjugate, such as trastuzumab-DM1.

Another aspect of the invention provides for a method of reducingresistance of a cancer cell to an anti-mitotic agent comprisingcontacting the cancer cell with an antagonist of ABCC3. In someembodiments, the antagonist is an ABCC3 antibody or an siRNA that bindsto ABCC3.

Yet another aspect of the invention provides for a method of treating apatient with a cancer that is resistant to anti-mitotic agentscomprising administering to the patient an antagonist of ABCC3 and antherapeutically effective amount of an anti-mitotic agent. In someembodiments, the antagonist is an ABCC3 antibody or an siRNA that bindsto ABCC3. In some embodiments, the anti-mitotic agent is selected fromthe group consisting of taxanes, maytansinoids, and auristatins, andanalogs and deriviatives thereof. In some embodiments, the anti-mitoticagent is conjugated to an antibody. In one embodiment, the anti-mitoticagent-antibody conjugate is a maytansinoid-anti-Her2 antibody conjugate,such as trastuzumab-DM1.

The invention also provides methods of treating cancer patients based onthe ABCC3 amplification status of their cancer. In one embodiment, themethod comprises detecting whether the ABCC3 gene is amplified oroverexpressed in a test cancer sample from the patient and administeringto the patient a therapeutically effective amount of an anti-mitoticdrug-based chemotherapy if amplification or overexpression of the ABCC3gene is not detected in the test cancer sample. In one embodiment, thepatient has Her2 positive breast cancer and is administered an anti-Her2antibody-anti-mitotic agent conjugate such as trastuzumab-DM1 ortrastuzumab-MMAE.

In another aspect of the invention, a patient is selected foranti-mitotic drug-based chemotherapy based on absence of ABCC3amplification or overexpression in their cancer and administered atherapeutically effective amount of an anti-mitotic drug. In oneembodiment, the selected patient has Her2 positive breast cancer and isadministered an anti-Her2 antibody-anti-mitotic agent conjugate such astrastuzumab-DM1 or trastuzumab-MMAE.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

FIG. 1A illustrates an in vitro response of breast cancer cell lines toMMAE. FIG. 1B illustrates an in vitro response of breast cancer celllines to paclitaxel. On the x-axis, cell lines were classified intomajor molecular subtypes of breast cancer. The y-axis indicates the invitro IC50 value, or concentration of drug that resulted in 50%inhibition of cell viability. Horizontal lines indicate mean sensitivityto each agent for cell lines of a given subtype.

FIG. 2A shows that in vitro resistance to Paclitaxel is associated withamplification of the Chromosome 17q21 region. FIG. 2B shows that invitro resistance to MMAE is associated with amplification of theChromosome 17q21 region. Cell lines are shown in order of increasingagent sensitivity from left to right. The classifications (sensitive,intermediate, resistant) used for supervised analysis of SNP array dataand identification of biomarkers of resistance are indicated at the topof the figure. Those cells lines with genomic DNA copy numberamplification are indicated with a diamond.

FIG. 3 shows that ABCC3 is overexpressed in cell lines with 17q21.3amplification. Thirty-one cell lines were binned into amplified andnon-amplified classes based on a copy number cutoff of 4 in the region.Box-and-whisker plots show expression of ABCC3 in each group.208161_s_at was selected as the most variable Affymetrix expressionprobe set representing ABCC3. Other probe sets gave similar results. Thecentral box represents the interquartile range, the line inside the boxindicates the median, and the dotted vertical lines extend to the datapoints furthest from the median but within 1.5 times the interquartilerange. Data points outside the dotted vertical lines are represented byindividual circles.

FIG. 4A-4D show graphs representing mitotic index in response topaclitaxel treatment for four different cell lines after ABCC3 orcontrol siRNA treatment. EFM-192A (FIG. 4A) and ZR-75-30 (FIG. 4B) cellshave amplification and overexpression of ABCC3 and display enhancedsensitivity (increased mitotic index) after knockdown whereas HCC-1428(FIG. 4C) and MDA-MB-453 (FIG. 4D) have low copy number and expressionand do not show increased sensitivity.

FIG. 5A-5B show that stable overexpression of ABCC3 results in vitroresistance to paclitaxel and MMAE. Stable cell lines derived from singlecell clones that overexpress ABCC3 from the CMV promoter or a controlline with empty vector were assayed for growth inhibitory effects ofpaclitaxel (FIG. 5A) or MMAE (FIG. 5B).

FIG. 6A-6B show growth inhibition of breast cancer cell lines treatedwith either MMAE (FIG. 6A) or paclitaxel (FIG. 6B). Points represent theaverage of four replicate wells in a 384-well plate with fittednonlinear dose-response curves. The y-axis indicates the percent cellviability relative to control vehicle treated wells. Error bars indicatestandard deviations.

FIG. 7 shows three ABCC3 overexpressing clones and a control cell lineanalyzed for sensitivity to free DM1 in a standard cell viability assay.

FIG. 8 shows a graph representing mitotic index EFM-192A cellstransfected with control (NTC) or ABCC3 siRNA when treated withtrastuzamab-mc-vc-PAB-MMAF.

FIG. 9A shows the mitotic response of EFM-192A cells transfected withcontrol (NTC) or ABCC3 siRNA when treated with free DM1. FIG. 9B showsthe mitotic response of EFM-192A cells transfected with control (NTC) orABCC3 siRNA when treated with T-DM1.

FIG. 10 shows the result of a FISH analysis performed on samplesobtained from a T-DM1 Phase II trial.

FIG. 11A-11B show a Table showing information on molecular subtype ofcell lines and their sensitivity to anti-mitotic drugs. FIG. 11A andFIG. 11B each show a section of the Table.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS I. Definitions

The phrases “gene amplification” and “gene duplication” (and variantssuch as “amplification of a gene” or “duplication of a gene”) are usedinterchangeably and refer to a process by which multiple copies of agene or gene fragment are formed in a particular cell or cell line. Theduplicated region (a stretch of amplified DNA) is often referred to asan “amplicon.” Usually, the amount of the messenger RNA (mRNA) produced,i.e., the level of gene expression, also increases in proportion to thenumber of copies made of the particular gene.

The term “ABCC3,” as used herein, refers to any native ABCC3 (also knownas MRP-3) from any vertebrate source, including mammals such as primates(e.g. humans and monkeys) and rodents (e.g., mice and rats), unlessotherwise indicated. The term encompasses “full-length,” unprocessedABCC3 as well as any form of ABCC3 that results from processing in thecell. The term also encompasses naturally occurring variants of ABCC3,e.g., splice variants, allelic variants, and other isoforms. The termalso encompasses fragments or variants of a native ABCC3 that maintainat least one biological activity of ABCC3. Examples of ABCC3s includethose identified with Genbank accession numbers NM 003786 (human) andXM_358306 (mouse). See also, Kiuchi, et al., FEBS Lett. 433:149-152(1998); and Borst, et al., JNCI 92(16):1295-1302 (2000).

The term “genetic variation” includes variations in the amplification ofa gene or polypeptide as well as variations in an amino acid sequence orpolynucleotide sequence.

The terms “cell proliferative disorder” and “proliferative disorder”refer to disorders that are associated with some degree of abnormal cellproliferation. In one embodiment, the cell proliferative disorder iscancer.

“Tumor,” as used herein, refers to all neoplastic cell growth andproliferation, whether malignant or benign, and all pre-cancerous andcancerous cells and tissues. The terms “cancer,” “cancerous,” “cellproliferative disorder,” “proliferative disorder” and “tumor” are notmutually exclusive as referred to herein.

The terms “cancer” and “cancerous” refer to or describe thephysiological condition in mammals that is typically characterized byunregulated cell growth/proliferation. Examples of cancer include, butare not limited to, carcinoma, lymphoma (e.g., Hodgkin's andnon-Hodgkin's lymphoma), blastoma, sarcoma, and leukemia. Moreparticular examples of such cancers include squamous cell cancer,small-cell lung cancer, non-small cell lung cancer, adenocarcinoma ofthe lung, squamous carcinoma of the lung, cancer of the peritoneum,hepatocellular cancer, gastrointestinal cancer, pancreatic cancer,glioma, cervical cancer, ovarian cancer, liver cancer, bladder cancer,hepatoma, breast cancer, colon cancer, rectal cancer, colorectal cancer,endometrial or uterine carcinoma, salivary gland carcinoma, kidneycancer, liver cancer, prostate cancer, vulva' cancer, thyroid cancer,hepatic carcinoma, leukemia and other lymphoproliferative disorders, andvarious types of head and neck cancer.

A cancer patient who “responds to treatment” or is “responsive totreatment” with an anti-mitotic is one that shows clinical ortherapeutic benefit from or as a result of the treatment with theanti-mitotic agent. Such benefit includes cellular or biologicalresponses, a complete response, a partial response, a stable disease(without progression or relapse), or a response of the patient from oras a result of the treatment with the agent with a later relapse.

A cancer, cancer cell, or cancer tumor that is “resistant to treatment”with an anti-mitotic agent is one that does not show a statisticallysignificant cellular or biological response to the agent. Conversely,cancer, cancer cells, or cancer tumors that are not resistant totreatment with the agent show statistically significant cellular orbiological responses to the agent such as, for example, an increase inthe rate of cell death, or apoptosis, or decrease in proliferation orgrowth as compared to cancer cells or tumors that have not been treatedwith the agent. In specific embodiments, a cancer, cancer cell, orcancer tumor is resistant to treatment with MIVIAE if the IC50 isgreater than 30 nM, or alternatively greater than 50 nM, oralternatively greater than 100 nM of MIVIAE. In other embodiments, acancer, cancer cell, or cancer tumor is resistant to treatment withpaclitaxel if the IC50 is greater than 50 nM, or alternatively greaterthan 100 nM, or alternatively greater than 500 nM, or alternativelygreater than 1000 nM of paclitaxel.

An “anti-mitotic agent” is a compound that inhibits, prevents, orotherwise disrupts mitosis. Specific examples of anti-mitotic agentsinclude, but are not limited to, taxanes, such as paclitaxel anddocetaxel; maytansinoids, such as DM1 and DM4; dolastatin 10; dolastatin15;

auristatins, such as monomethyl auristatin E (MMAE) and monomethylauristatin F (MMAF); vinca alkoloids, such as vinblastine andvincristine; and analogs and deriviatives thereof. The anti-mitoticagent is optionally conjugated to an antibody.

The terms “treat” or “treatment” refer to both therapeutic treatment andprophylactic or preventative measures, wherein the object is to preventor slow down (lessen) an undesired physiological change or disorder,such as the development or spread of cancer. For purposes of thisinvention, beneficial or desired clinical results include, but are notlimited to, alleviation of symptoms, diminishment of extent of disease,stabilized (i.e., not worsening) state of disease, delay or slowing ofdisease progression, amelioration or palliation of the disease state,and remission (whether partial or total), whether detectable orundetectable. “Treatment” can also mean prolonging survival as comparedto expected survival if not receiving treatment. Those in need oftreatment include those already with the condition or disorder as wellas those prone to have the condition or disorder or those in which thecondition or disorder is to be prevented.

An “individual” or a “patient” is a vertebrate. In certain embodiments,the vertebrate is a mammal. Mammals include, but are not limited to,farm animals (such as cows), sport animals, pets (such as cats, dogs,and horses), primates, mice and rats. In certain embodiments, a patientis a human.

An “effective amount” refers to an amount effective, at dosages and forperiods of time necessary, to achieve the desired therapeutic orprophylactic result.

A “therapeutically effective amount” of a substance/molecule of theinvention may vary according to factors such as the disease state, age,sex, and weight of the individual, and the ability of thesubstance/molecule, to elicit a desired response in the individual. Atherapeutically effective amount encompasses an amount in which anytoxic or detrimental effects of the substance/molecule are outweighed bythe therapeutically beneficial effects. A “prophylactically effectiveamount” refers to an amount effective, at dosages and for periods oftime necessary, to achieve the desired prophylactic result. Typically,but not necessarily, since a prophylactic dose is used in subjects priorto or at an earlier stage of disease, the prophylactically effectiveamount would be less than the therapeutically effective amount.

The term “cytotoxic agent” as used herein refers to a substance thatinhibits or prevents a cellular function and/or causes cell death ordestruction. The term is intended to include radioactive isotopes (e.g.,At²¹¹, I¹³¹, I¹²⁵, Y⁹⁰, Re¹⁸⁶, Re¹⁸⁸, Sm¹⁵³, Bi²¹², P³², Pb²¹² andradioactive isotopes of Lu), chemotherapeutic agents (e.g.,methotrexate, adriamicin, vinca alkaloids (vincristinc, vinblastinc,etoposide), doxorubicin, mclphalan, mitomycin C, chlorambucil,daunorubicin or other intercalating agents, enzymes and fragmentsthereof such as nucleolytic enzymes, antibiotics, and toxins such assmall molecule toxins or enzymatically active toxins of bacterial,fungal, plant or animal origin, including fragments and/or variantsthereof, and the various antitumor or anticancer agents disclosed below.Other cytotoxic agents are described below. A “tumoricidal” agent causesdestruction of tumor cells.

A “toxin” is any substance capable of having a detrimental effect on thegrowth or proliferation of a cell.

A “chemotherapeutic agent” is a chemical compound useful in thetreatment of cancer.

The term “antagonist” is used in the broadest sense, and includes anymolecule that partially or fully blocks, inhibits, or neutralizes abiological activity of a polypeptide, such as ABCC3, or thetranscription or translation thereof. Suitable antagonist moleculesinclude, but are not limited to, antagonist antibodies, polypeptidefragments, oligopeptides, organic molecules (including small molecules),and anti-sense nucleic acids, including siRNA.

“Antibodies” (Abs) and “immunoglobulins” (Igs) refer to glycoproteinshaving similar structural characteristics. While antibodies exhibitbinding specificity to a specific antigen, immunoglobulins include bothantibodies and other antibody-like molecules which generally lackantigen specificity. Polypeptides of the latter kind are, for example,produced at low levels by the lymph system and at increased levels bymyelomas.

The terms “antibody” and “immunoglobulin” are used interchangeably inthe broadest sense and include monoclonal antibodies (e.g., full lengthor intact monoclonal antibodies), polyclonal antibodies, monovalentantibodies, multivalent antibodies, multi specific antibodies (e.g.,bispecific antibodies so long as they exhibit the desired biologicalactivity) and may also include certain antibody fragments (as describedin greater detail herein). An antibody can be chimeric, human, humanizedand/or affinity matured.

The term “anti-ABCC3 antibody” or “an antibody that binds to ABCC3”refers to an antibody that is capable of binding ABCC3 with sufficientaffinity such that the antibody is useful as a diagnostic and/ortherapeutic agent in targeting ABCC3. Preferably, the extent of bindingof an anti-ABCC3 antibody to an unrelated, non-ABCC3 protein is lessthan about 10% of the binding of the antibody to ABCC3 as measured,e.g., by a radioimmunoassay (RIA). In certain embodiments, an antibodythat binds to ABCC3 has a dissociation constant (Kd) of ≤1 μM, ≤100 nM,≤10 nM, ≤1 nM, or ≤0.1 nM. In certain embodiments, an anti-ABCC3antibody binds to an epitope of ABCC3 that is conserved among ABCC3 fromdifferent species.

The terms “full length antibody,” “intact antibody” and “whole antibody”are used herein interchangeably to refer to an antibody in itssubstantially intact form, not antibody fragments as defined below. Theterms particularly refer to an antibody with heavy chains that containthe Fc region.

“Antibody fragments” comprise only a portion of an intact antibody,wherein the portion retains at least one, and as many as most or all, ofthe functions normally associated with that portion when present in anintact antibody. In one embodiment, an antibody fragment comprises anantigen binding site of the intact antibody and thus retains the abilityto bind antigen. In another embodiment, an antibody fragment, forexample, one that comprises the Fc region, retains at least one of thebiological functions normally associated with the Fc region when presentin an intact antibody, such as FcRn binding, antibody half lifemodulation, ADCC function and complement binding. In one embodiment, anantibody fragment is a monovalent antibody that has an in vivo half lifesubstantially similar to an intact antibody. For example, such anantibody fragment may comprise an antigen binding arm linked to an Fcsequence capable of conferring in vivo stability to the fragment.

Papain digestion of antibodies produces two identical antigen-bindingfragments, called “Fab” fragments, each with a single antigen-bindingsite, and a residual “Fc” fragment, whose name reflects its ability tocrystallize readily. Pepsin treatment yields an F(ab′)2 fragment thathas two antigen-combining sites and is still capable of cross-linkingantigen.

“Fv” is a minimum antibody fragment which contains a completeantigen-binding site. In one embodiment, a two-chain Fv species consistsof a dimer of one heavy- and one light-chain variable domain in tight,non-covalent association. In a single-chain Fv (scFv) species, oneheavy- and one light-chain variable domain can be covalently linked by aflexible peptide linker such that the light and heavy chains canassociate in a “dimeric” structure analogous to that in a two-chain Fvspecies. It is in this configuration that the three CDRs of eachvariable domain interact to define an antigen-binding site on thesurface of the VH-VL dimer. Collectively, the six CDRs conferantigen-binding specificity to the antibody. However, even a singlevariable domain (or half of an Fv comprising only three CDRs specificfor an antigen) has the ability to recognize and bind antigen, althoughat a lower affinity than the entire binding site.

The Fab fragment contains the heavy- and light-chain variable domainsand also contains the constant domain of the light chain and the firstconstant domain (CH1) of the heavy chain. Fab′ fragments differ from Fabfragments by the addition of a few residues at the carboxy terminus ofthe heavy chain CH1 domain including one or more cysteines from theantibody hinge region. Fab′-SH is the designation herein for Fab′ inwhich the cysteine residue(s) of the constant domains bear a free thiolgroup. F(ab′)2 antibody fragments originally were produced as pairs ofFab′ fragments which have hinge cysteines between them. Other chemicalcouplings of antibody fragments are also known.

“Single-chain Fv” or “scFv” antibody fragments comprise the VH and VLdomains of antibody, wherein these domains are present in a singlepolypeptide chain. Generally, the scFv polypeptide further comprises apolypeptide linker between the VH and VL domains which enables the scFvto form the desired structure for antigen binding. For a review of scFvsee Pluckthun, in The Pharmacology of Monoclonal Antibodies, vol. 113,Rosenburg and Moore eds., Springer-Verlag, New York, pp. 269-315 (1994).

The term “diabodies” refers to small antibody fragments with twoantigen-binding sites, which fragments comprise a heavy-chain variabledomain (VH) connected to a light-chain variable domain (VL) in the samepolypeptide chain (VH-VL). By using a linker that is too short to allowpairing between the two domains on the same chain, the domains areforced to pair with the complementary domains of another chain andcreate two antigen-binding sites. Diabodics may be bivalent orbispecific. Diabodics are described more fully in, for example, EP404,097; WO93/1161; Hudson et al. (2003) Nat. Med. 9:129-134; andHollinger et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 90: 6444-6448 (1993).Triabodies and tetrabodies are also described in Hudson et al. (2003)Nat. Med. 9:129-134.

The term “monoclonal antibody” as used herein refers to an antibodyobtained from a population of substantially homogeneous antibodies,i.e., the individual antibodies comprising the population are identicalexcept for possible mutations, e.g., naturally occurring mutations, thatmay be present in minor amounts. Thus, the modifier “monoclonal”indicates the character of the antibody as not being a mixture ofdiscrete antibodies. In certain embodiments, such a monoclonal antibodytypically includes an antibody comprising a polypeptide sequence thatbinds a target, wherein the target-binding polypeptide sequence wasobtained by a process that includes the selection of a single targetbinding polypeptide sequence from a plurality of polypeptide sequences.For example, the selection process can be the selection of a uniqueclone from a plurality of clones, such as a pool of hybridoma clones,phage clones, or recombinant DNA clones. It should be understood that aselected target binding sequence can be further altered, for example, toimprove affinity for the target, to humanize the target bindingsequence, to improve its production in cell culture, to reduce itsimmunogenicity in vivo, to create a multispecific antibody, etc., andthat an antibody comprising the altered target binding sequence is alsoa monoclonal antibody of this invention. In contrast to polyclonalantibody preparations which typically include different antibodiesdirected against different determinants (epitopes), each monoclonalantibody of a monoclonal antibody preparation is directed against asingle determinant on an antigen. In addition to their specificity,monoclonal antibody preparations are advantageous in that they aretypically uncontaminated by other immunoglobulins.

The modifier “monoclonal” indicates the character of the antibody asbeing obtained from a substantially homogeneous population ofantibodies, and is not to be construed as requiring production of theantibody by any particular method. For example, the monoclonalantibodies to be used in accordance with the present invention may bemade by a variety of techniques, including, for example, the hybridomamethod (e.g., Kohler et al., Nature, 256: 495 (1975); Harlow et al.,Antibodies: A Laboratory Manual, (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press,2^(nd) ed. 1988); Hammerling et al., in: Monoclonal Antibodies andT-Cell Hybridornas 563-681 (Elsevier, N.Y., 1981)), recombinant DNAmethods (see, e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 4,816,567), phage display technologies(see, e.g., Clackson et al., Nature, 352: 624-628 (1991); Marks et al.,J. Mol. Biol. 222: 581-597 (1992); Sidhu et al., J. Mol. Biol. 338(2):299-310 (2004); Lee et al., J. Mol. Biol. 340(5): 1073-1093 (2004);Fellouse, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 101(34): 12467-12472 (2004); andLee et al., J. Immunol. Methods 284(1-2): 119-132(2004), andtechnologies for producing human or human-like antibodies in animalsthat have parts or all of the human immunoglobulin loci or genesencoding human immunoglobulin sequences (see, e.g., WO98/24893;WO96/34096; WO96/33735; WO91/10741; Jakobovits et al., Proc. Natl. Acad.Sci. USA 90: 2551 (1993); Jakobovits et al., Nature 362: 255-258 (1993);Bruggemann et al., Year in Immunol. 7:33 (1993); U.S. Pat. Nos.5,545,807; 5,545,806; 5,569,825; 5,625,126; 5,633,425; 5,661,016; Markset al., Bio. Technology 10: 779-783 (1992); Lonberg et al., Nature 368:856-859 (1994); Morrison, Nature 368: 812-813 (1994); Fishwild et al.,Nature Biotechnol. 14: 845-851 (1996); Neuberger, Nature Biotechnol. 14:826 (1996) and Lonberg and Huszar, Intern. Rev. Immunol. 13: 65-93(1995).

The monoclonal antibodies herein specifically include “chimeric”antibodies in which a portion of the heavy and/or light chain isidentical with or homologous to corresponding sequences in antibodiesderived from a particular species or belonging to a particular antibodyclass or subclass, while the remainder of the chain(s) is identical withor homologous to corresponding sequences in antibodies derived fromanother species or belonging to another antibody class or subclass, aswell as fragments of such antibodies, so long as they exhibit thedesired biological activity (U.S. Pat. No. 4,816,567; and Morrison etal., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 81:6851-6855 (1984)).

“Humanized” forms of non-human (e.g., murine) antibodies are chimericantibodies that contain minimal sequence derived from non-humanimmunoglobulin. In one embodiment, a humanized antibody is a humanimmunoglobulin (recipient antibody) in which residues from ahypervariable region of the recipient are replaced by residues from ahypervariable region of a non-human species (donor antibody) such asmouse, rat, rabbit, or nonhuman primate having the desired specificity,affinity, and/or capacity. In some instances, framework region (FR)residues of the human immunoglobulin are replaced by correspondingnon-human residues. Furthermore, humanized antibodies may compriseresidues that are not found in the recipient antibody or in the donorantibody. These modifications may be made to further refine antibodyperformance. In general, a humanized antibody will comprisesubstantially all of at least one, and typically two, variable domains,in which all or substantially all of the hypervariable loops correspondto those of a non-human immunoglobulin, and all or substantially all ofthe FRs are those of a human immunoglobulin sequence. The humanizedantibody optionally will also comprise at least a portion of animmunoglobulin constant region (Fc), typically that of a humanimmunoglobulin. For further details, see Jones et al., Nature321:522-525 (1986); Riechmann et al., Nature 332:323-329 (1988); andPresta, Curr. Op. Struct. Biol. 2:593-596 (1992). See also the followingreview articles and references cited therein: Vaswani and Hamilton, Ann.Allergy, Asthma & Immunol. 1:105-115 (1998); Harris, Biochem. Soc.Transactions 23:1035-1038 (1995); Hurle and Gross, Curr. Op. Biotech.5:428-433 (1994).

A “human antibody” is one which comprises an amino acid sequencecorresponding to that of an antibody produced by a human and/or has beenmade using any of the techniques for making human antibodies asdisclosed herein. Such techniques include screening human-derivedcombinatorial libraries, such as phage display libraries (see, e.g.,Marks et al., J. Mol. Biol., 222: 581-597 (1991) and Hoogenboom et al.,Nucl. Acids Res., 19: 4133-4137 (1991)); using human myeloma andmouse-human heteromyeloma cell lines for the production of humanmonoclonal antibodies (see, e.g., Kozbor J Immunol., 133: 3001 (1984);Brodeur et al., Monoclonal Antibody Production Techniques andApplications, pp. 51-63 (Marcel Dekker, Inc., New York, 1987); andBoerner et al., J Immunol., 147: 86 (1991)); and generating monoclonalantibodies in transgenic animals (e.g., mice) that are capable ofproducing a full repertoire of human antibodies in the absence ofendogenous immunoglobulin production (see, e.g., Jakobovits et al.,Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci USA, 90: 2551 (1993); Jakobovits et al., Nature,362: 255 (1993); Bruggermann et al., Year in Immunol., 7: 33 (1993)).This definition of a human antibody specifically excludes a humanizedantibody comprising antigen-binding residues from a non-human animal.

An “affinity matured” antibody is one with one or more alterations inone or more CDRs thereof which result in an improvement in the affinityof the antibody for antigen, compared to a parent antibody which doesnot possess those alteration(s). In one embodiment, an affinity maturedantibody has nanomolar or even picomolar affinities for the targetantigen. Affinity matured antibodies are produced by procedures known inthe art. Marks et al. Bio/Technology 10:779-783 (1992) describesaffinity maturation by VH and VL domain shuffling. Random mutagenesis ofHVR and/or framework residues is described by: Barbas et al. Proc Nat.Acad. Sci. USA 91:3809-3813 (1994); Schicr et al. Gene 169:147-155(1995); Yelton et al. J. Immunol. 155:1994-2004 (1995); Jackson et al.,J. Immunol. 154(7):3310-9 (1995); and Hawkins et al, J. Mol. Biol.226:889-896 (1992).

A “blocking” antibody or an “antagonist” antibody is one which inhibitsor reduces a biological activity of the antigen it binds. Certainblocking antibodies or antagonist antibodies partially or completelyinhibit the biological activity of the antigen.

Antibody “effector functions” refer to those biological activitiesattributable to the Fc region (a native sequence Fc region or amino acidsequence variant Fc region) of an antibody, and vary with the antibodyisotype. Examples of antibody effector functions include: C1q bindingand complement dependent cytotoxicity; Fc receptor binding;antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity (ADCC); phagocytosis; downregulation of cell surface receptors (e.g. B cell receptor); and B cellactivation.

“Fc receptor” or “FcR” describes a receptor that binds to the Fc regionof an antibody. In some embodiments, an FcR is a native human FcR. Insome embodiments, an FcR is one which binds an IgG antibody (a gammareceptor) and includes receptors of the FcγRI, FcγRII, and FcγRIIIsubclasses, including allelic variants and alternatively spliced formsof those receptors. FcγRII receptors include FcγRIIA (an “activatingreceptor”) and FcγRIIB (an “inhibiting receptor”), which have similaramino acid sequences that differ primarily in the cytoplasmic domainsthereof. Activating receptor FcγRIIA contains an immunoreceptortyrosine-based activation motif (ITAM) in its cytoplasmic domain.Inhibiting receptor FcγRIIB contains an immunoreceptor tyrosine-basedinhibition motif (ITIM) in its cytoplasmic domain (see Daeron, Annu.Rev. Immunol. 15:203-234 (1997)). FcRs are reviewed in Ravetch andKinet, Annu. Rev. Immunol 9:457-92 (1991); Capel et al., Immunomethods4:25-34 (1994); and de Haas et al., J. Lab. Clin. Med. 126:330-41(1995). Other FcRs, including those to be identified in the future, areencompassed by the term “FcR” herein.

The term “Fc receptor” or “FcR” also includes the neonatal receptor,FcRn, which is responsible for the transfer of maternal IgGs to thefetus (Guyer et al., J. Immunol. 117:587 (1976) and Kim et al., J.Immunol. 24:249 (1994)) and regulation of homeostasis ofimmunoglobulins. Methods of measuring binding to FcRn are known. Bindingto human FcRn in vivo and scrum half life of human FcRn high affinitybinding polypeptides can be assayed, e.g., in transgenic mice ortransfected human cell lines expressing human FcRn, or in primatesadministered with Fc variant polypeptides.

WO00/42072 (Presta) describes antibody variants with improved ordiminished binding to FcRs. The content of that patent publication isspecifically incorporated herein by reference. See, also, Shields et al.J. Biol. Chem. 9(2): 6591-6604 (2001).

“Human effector cells” are leukocytes which express one or more FcRs andperform effector functions. In certain embodiments, the cells express atleast FcγRIII and perform ADCC effector function(s). Examples of humanleukocytes which mediate ADCC include peripheral blood mononuclear cells(PBMC), natural killer (NK) cells, monocytes, cytotoxic T cells andneutrophils. The effector cells may be isolated from a native source,e.g., from blood.

“Antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity” or “ADCC” refers to aform of cytotoxicity in which immunoglobulin bound to Fc receptors(FcRs) present on certain cytotoxic effector cells (e.g. Natural Killer(NK) cells, neutrophils, and macrophages) enables those cytotoxiceffector cells to bind specifically to an antigen-bearing target celland subsequently kill the target cell with cytotoxins. The primary cellsfor mediating ADCC, NK cells, express FcγRIII only, whereas monocytesexpress FcγRI, FcγRII and FcγRIII FcR expression on hematopoietic cellsis summarized in Table 3 on page 464 of Ravetch and Kinet, Annu. Rev.Immunol 9:457-92 (1991). To assess ADCC activity of a molecule ofinterest, an in vitro ADCC assay, such as that described in U.S. Pat.No. 5,500,362 or 5,821,337 or Presta U.S. Pat. No. 6,737,056 may beperformed. Useful effector cells for such assays include peripheralblood mononuclear cells (PBMC) and Natural Killer (NK) cells.Alternatively, or additionally, ADCC activity of the molecule ofinterest may be assessed in vivo, e.g., in an animal model such as thatdisclosed in Clynes et al. PNAS (USA) 95:652-656 (1998).

“Complement dependent cytotoxicity” or “CDC” refers to the lysis of atarget cell in the presence of complement. Activation of the classicalcomplement pathway is initiated by the binding of the first component ofthe complement system (Clq) to antibodies (of the appropriate subclass)which are bound to their cognate antigen. To assess complementactivation, a CDC assay, e.g. as described in Gazzano-Santoro et al., J.Immunol. Methods 202:163 (1996), may be performed.

Polypeptide variants with altered Fc region amino acid sequences andincreased or decreased Clq binding capability are described in U.S. Pat.No. 6,194,551B1 and WO99/51642. The contents of those patentpublications are specifically incorporated herein by reference. See,also, Idusogie et al. J. Immunol. 164: 4178-4184 (2000).

The term “Fc region-comprising polypeptide” refers to a polypeptide,such as an antibody or immunoadhesin, which comprises an Fc region. TheC-terminal lysine (residue 447 according to the EU numbering system) ofthe Fc region may be removed, for example, during purification of thepolypeptide or by recombinant engineering the nucleic acid encoding thepolypeptide. Accordingly, a composition comprising a polypeptide havingan Fc region according to this invention can comprise polypeptides withK447, with all K447 removed, or a mixture of polypeptides with andwithout the K447 residue.

A “cytotoxic antibody” is an antibody that is capable of an effectorfunction and/or inducing cell death upon binding to its target antigen.

An “immunoconjugate” or “antibody conjugate” refers to an antibodyconjugated to one or more cytotoxic agents.

A “small molecule” or “small organic molecule” is defined herein as anorganic molecule having a molecular weight below about 500 Daltons.

An “ABCC3-binding oligopeptide” or an “oligopeptide that binds ABCC3” or“ABCC3 polypeptide binding oligopeptide” is an oligopeptide that iscapable of binding ABCC3 with sufficient affinity such that theoligopeptide is useful as a diagnostic and/or therapeutic agent intargeting ABCC3. In certain embodiments, the extent of binding of anABCC3-binding oligopeptide to an unrelated, non-ABCC3 protein is lessthan about 10% of the binding of the ABCC3-binding oligopeptide to ABCC3as measured, e.g., by a surface plasmon resonance assay. In certainembodiments, an ABCC3-binding oligopeptide has a dissociation constant(Kd) of ≤1 μM, ≤100 nM, ≤10 nM, ≤1 nM, or ≤0.1 nM.

An “ABCC3-binding organic molecule” or “an organic molecule that bindsABCC3” or “ABCC3 polypeptide binding organic molecule” is an organicmolecule other than an oligopeptide or antibody as defined herein thatis capable of binding ABCC3 with sufficient affinity such that theorganic molecule is useful as a diagnostic and/or therapeutic agent intargeting ABCC3. In certain embodiments, the extent of binding of anFGFR2-binding organic molecule to an unrelated, non ABCC3 protein isless than about 10% of the binding of the ABCC3-binding organic moleculeto ABCC3 as measured, e.g., by a surface plasmon resonance assay. Incertain embodiments, an ABCC3-binding organic molecule has adissociation constant (Kd) of ≤1 μM≤100 nM, ≤10 nM, ≤1 nM, or ≤0.1 nM.

The dissociation constant (Kd) of any molecule that binds a targetpolypeptide may conveniently be measured using a surface plasmonresonance assay. Such assays may employ a BIAcore™-2000 or aBIAcore™-3000 (BIAcore, Inc., Piscataway, N.J.) at 25° C. withimmobilized target polypeptide CMS chips at ˜10 response units (RU).Briefly, carboxymethylated dextran biosensor chips (CMS, BIAcore Inc.)are activated with N-ethyl-N′-(3-dimethylaminopropyl)-carbodiimidehydrochloride (EDC) and N-hydroxysuccinimide (NETS) according to thesupplier's instructions. Target polypeptide is diluted with 10 mM sodiumacetate, pH 4.8, to 5 μg/ml (˜0.2 μAM) before injection at a flow rateof 5 μl/minute to achieve approximately 10 response units (RU) ofcoupled protein. Following the injection of target polypeptide, 1 Methanolamine is injected to block unreacted groups. For kineticsmeasurements, two-fold serial dilutions of the binding molecule (0.78 nMto 500 nM) are injected in PBS with 0.05% Tween 20 (PBST) at 25° C. at aflow rate of approximately 25 μl/min. Association rates (k_(on)) anddissociation rates (k_(off)) are calculated using a simple one-to-oneLangmuir binding model (BIAcore Evaluation Software version 3.2) bysimultaneously fitting the association and dissociation sensorgrams. Theequilibrium dissociation constant (Kd) is calculated as the ratiok_(off)/k_(on). See, e.g., Chen, Y., et al., (1999) J. Mol. Biol.293:865-881. If the on-rate of an antibody exceeds 10⁶ M⁻¹ 5⁻¹ by thesurface plasmon resonance assay above, then the on-rate can bedetermined by using a fluorescent quenching technique that measures theincrease or decrease in fluorescence emission intensity (excitation=295nm; emission=340 nm, 16 nm band-pass) at 25° C. of a 20 nM antibody (Fabform) in PBS, pH 7.2, in the presence of increasing concentrations ofantigen as measured in a spectrometer, such as a stop-flow equippedspectrophometer (Aviv Instruments) or a 8000-series SLM-Amincospectrophotometer (ThermoSpectronic) with a stirred cuvcttc.

The word “label” when used herein refers to a detectable compound orcomposition. The label may be detectable by itself (e.g., radioisotopelabels or fluorescent labels) or, in the case of an enzymatic label, maycatalyze chemical alteration of a substrate compound or compositionwhich results in a detectable product. Radionuclides that can serve asdetectable labels include, for example, I-131, I-123, I-125, Y-90,Re-188, Re-186, At-211, Cu-67, Bi-212, and Pd-109.

An “isolated” biological molecule, such as a nucleic acid, polypeptide,or antibody, is one which has been identified and separated and/orrecovered from at least one component of its natural environment.

II. Description of Certain Embodiments

Primary breast tumors may be classified into at least three majorsubtypes by gene expression profiling and the subtypes have differentprognostic outcomes in terms of patient survival (9). Luminal breastcancers are typically estrogen receptor positive and characterized bycoordinate expression of a number of epithelial specific genes, arelatively good prognosis, and good response rates to targeted hormonaltherapies. HER2 positive breast cancers are characterized by high levelgene amplification of the HER2 oncogene, relatively poor prognosis ifuntreated, and significant clinical benefit from the HER2 targetingmonoclonal antibody Trastuzumab (Herceptin, Genentech) (3). Basal-likebreast cancers typically lack expression of HER2, ER and progesteronereceptor and hence are sometimes referred to as “triple negative” tumors(10, 11). Basal-like breast cancers have a relatively poor prognosis andcurrently have not been shown to respond to any targeted therapy (12).Theses subtypes display differential response to preoperativechemotherapy regimens (13) but for the most part the drug resistancemechanisms underlying these differences have yet to be determined.

Recent studies have revealed that large collections of breast cancercell lines reflect many of the genetic and genomic changescharacteristic of human breast tumors and hence may serve as a modelsystem for a population of molecularly heterogeneous breast cancers(14). For instance cells may be classified into basal-like and luminalsubtypes based on gene expression profiling signatures, and they retainmost of the high-level amplifications and deletions that are associatedwith poor outcome in primary tumors (14).

Molecular classification of breast cancers into subtypes with sharedfeatures and similar prognostic outcomes provides a framework to beginefforts to individualize cancer therapy. The present inventiondemonstrates that breast cancer subtypes show clear differences inresponse to anti-mitotic agents, with the basal-like subtype being themost sensitive. One mechanism for this differential response isamplification of the ABCC3 drug efflux pump that was observed in asubset of luminal and HER2 amplified cell lines but not in basal-likecell lines.

As described in the Examples, the present invention utilized a panel ofbreast cancer cell lines molecularly characterized as a model forpharmacogenomic analysis to identify resistance mechanisms and subtypedifferences in response to two anti-mitotic based therapeutics,monomethyl-auristatin-E (MMAE) and paclitaxel. MMAE is structurallyrelated to dolastatin 10, a pentapeptide natural product that has beenthe subject of several human clinical trials for cancer therapy, andexhibits potent antitumor activities by inhibiting tubulinpolymerization and thus destabilize cellular microtubules (15).Auristatin-monoclonal antibody conjugates have been developed with therationale that targeted delivery of the drug through specific antigenrecognition by the antibody will lead to enhanced chemotherapeuticefficacy while sparing non-target expressing tissues from toxicity (15).Paclitaxel and the related compound docetaxel are anticancer cytotoxicdrugs that stabilize microtubules and are widely used in the treatmentof breast cancer (16).

Based on these studies set forth in the Examples, amplification of aregion of chromosome 17 (17q21) was found to be strongly associated within vitro resistance to taxanes and auristatins. The region ofamplification harbors at least 100 genes. In order to identify therelevant gene, an unbiased approach consisting of RNA interference andhigh content analysis was used to show that amplification andconcomitant overexpression of the ABCC3 gene is most likely responsiblefor conferring resistance to paclitaxel and MMAE. It is also shown thatthis amplicon is present in primary breast tumors and that it is commonin HER2 amplified and luminal tumors but not in basal-like cells (FIGS.6 and 9).

Accordingly, one aspect of the invention provides for methods fordetermining whether a cancer will be resisitant to treatment with ananti-mitotic agent. In one embodiment, the method comprises detectingwhether the ABCC3 gene is amplified in a sample of the cancer cells.Amplification of the ABCC3 gene indicates that the cancer is resistantto the anti-mitotic agent. Detection of ABCC3 gene amplification can beperformed by any method known in the art. In one embodiment, ABCC3 geneamplification is performed by detecting whether the copy number of theABCC3 gene is increased in a sample of the cancer cells. In someembodiments, a gene is amplified if the copy number is at least 3, oralternatively at least 4, or alternatively at least 5, or alternativelyat least 7, or alternatively at least 9, or alternatively at least 10.

Gene copy number can be determined by any means known in the art, forexample, by fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH), Southern Blot,immunohistochemisty (IHC), polymerase chain reaction (PCR), quantitativePCR (qPCR), quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR), comparative genomichybridization, microarray based comparative genomic hybridization, orligase chain reaction (LCR). See for example, Avison, M., Measuring GeneExpression, New York: Taylor & Francis Group, 2007, Allison, D. B., etal, ed. DNA Microarrays and Related Genomics Techniques: Design,Analysis, and Interpretation of Experiments (Biostatistic), Boca Raton:Chapman & Hill/CRC, 2006; Hayat M. A., ed., Handbook ofImmunohistochemistry and in Situ Hybridization of Human Carcinomas,Burlington: Elsevier Academic Press, 2004.

In a further embodiment, the method of determining whether a cancer willbe resistant to an anti-mitotic agent comprises detecting whether theABCC3 gene is overexpressed in a sample of the cancer cells.Overexpression of the ABCC3 gene indicates that the cancer is resistantto the anti-mitotic agent. Detection of ABCC3 overexpression can beperformed by any method known in the art. In one embodiment, ABCC3 geneoverexpression is detected by determining the level of mRNAtranscription from the ABCC3 gene. Levels of mRNA transcription may bedetermined, either quantitatively or qualitatively, by various methodsknown to those skilled in the art. Levels of mRNA transcription may alsobe determined directly or indirectly by detecting levels of eDNAgenerated from the mRNA. Exemplary methods for determining levels ofmRNA transcription include, but are not limited to, PCR, real-timequantitative RT-PCR and hybridization-based assays, includingmicroarray-based assays and filter-based assays such as Northern blots.In certain embodiments, the ABCC3 gene is overexpressed if the level ofmRNA transcription is at least a 3-, 5-, 7-, 10-, 15-, 20-, 25-, 30-,35-, 40-, 45-, or 50-fold increase in mRNA transcription as compared toan appropriate control sample.

In other embodiments, expression of the ABCC3 gene is detected bydetermining the level of ABCC3 polypeptide expression. Levels of ABCC3polypeptide may be determined, either quantitatively or quantitatively,by certain methods known to those skilled in the art, includingantibody-based detection methods. In one embodiment, detectingexpression of the ABCC3 gene in a test cancer sample comprisescontacting the test cancer sample with an anti-ABCC3 antibody anddetermining the level of expression (either quantitatively orqualitatively) of ABCC3 in the test cancer sample by detecting bindingof the anti-ABCC3 antibody to ABCC3 polypeptide. In certain embodiments,binding of an anti-ABCC3 antibody to ABCC3 polypeptide may be detectedby various methods known to those skilled in the art including, but notlimited to, immunohistochemistry, fluorescence activated cell sorting,Western blot, radioimmunoassay, ELISA, and the like. In certainembodiments, overexpression of ABCC3 means at least a 3-, 5-, 7-, 10-,15-, 20-, 25-, 30-, 35-, 40-, 45-, or 50-fold increase in ABCC3polypeptide levels as compared to an appropriate control sample.

A sample of the cancer cells, or test cancer sample, preferablycomprises cells taken directly from the cancer tumor, but the testcancer sample can also be comprised of metastatic cancer cells,circulating tumor cells, or any suitable sample of cells that identifythe amplification or expression status of the ABCC3 gene in the cancer.Examples of cancers that can tested include breast cancer, ovariancancer, colorectal cancer, prostate cancer, squamous cell cancer,small-cell lung cancer, non-small cell lung cancer, adenocarcinoma ofthe lung, squamous carcinoma of the lung, cancer of the peritoneum,hepatocellular cancer, gastrointestinal cancer, pancreatic cancer,glioma, cervical cancer, liver cancer, bladder cancer, hepatoma, coloncancer, rectal cancer, endometrial or uterine carcinoma, salivary glandcarcinoma, kidney cancer, liver cancer, vulval cancer, thyroid cancer,hepatic carcinoma, leukemia and other lymphoproliferative disorders,various types of head and neck cancer, and any other cancer that issuitable for treatment using an anti-mitotic agent.

Appropriate controls for determining overexpression of ABCC3 in thecancer can be generated, for example, by determining the expressionlevel of ABCC3 in control samples of cells or tissues that express anormal level of ABCC3 and comparing the level of expression of ABCC3 inthe cancer to the level of expression of ABCC3 in the control sample.Alternatively, a control can be generated by determining the expressionof a housekeeping gene (such as an actin family member) in the same testcancer sample used to determine ABCC3 overexpression, or in a samplefrom the same cancer to be tested for ABCC3 overexpression. Thehousekeeping gene acts as a comparative control on which to determineoverexpression of the ABCC3 gene.

Detection of ABCC3 amplification and/or overexpression accordinglyallows for patients suffering from cancer to select an appropriatemethod of therapy most likely to successfully treat their cancer.

Accordingly, it is one aspect of this invention to provide methods forselecting a cancer patient for anti-mitotic agent-based chemotherapy.Those patients whose cancer shows amplification or overexpression ofABCC3 could use that information to decide with their physician if theyshould pursue a therapeutic alternative to anti-mitotic therapy. In oneembodiment, the method comprises detecting whether the ABCC3 gene isamplified in a test cancer sample from the patient, and selecting thepatient for anti-mitotic drug-based chemotherapy if amplification of theABCC3 gene is not detected in the test cancer sample. In anotherembodiment, the method comprises detecting whether the ABCC3 gene isoverexpressed in a test cancer sample from the patient, and selectingthe patient for anti-mitotic drug-based chemotherapy if overexpressionof the ABCC3 gene is not detected in the test cancer sample.

In one embodiment, the patient is a breast cancer patient. In a furtherembodiment, the patient has Her2 positive breast cancer. Expression oramplification of HER2 in breast cancer (Her2 positive breast cancer) isassociated with enhanced clinical benefit from the addition of theanti-mitotic agent paclitaxel after adjuvant treatment with doxorubicincompared to patients with HER2-negative, estrogen-receptor-positive,node-positive breast cancer (52). However, a significant fraction ofwomen with HER2-positive tumors fail to show a survival benefit fromthis treatment (52), suggesting that paclitaxel resistance mechanismsare present in a proportion of HER2 positive breast tumors. Thisresistance to anti-mitotic agents is of particular concern fortherapeutic regimes utilizing anti-Her2 antibodies conjugated toanti-mitotic agents, such as, for example, trastuzumab-DM1 antibodyconjugates. As illustrated in the Examples, overexpression of ABCC3 isassociated with resistance to treatment with trastuzumab-anti-mitoticagent conjugates. Conversely, knockdown of the ABCC3 gene with siRNAincreases sensitivity of the cells to treatment withtrastuzumab-anti-mitotic agent conjugates. Accordingly, the inventionprovides for methods of selecting a Her2-positive breast cancer patientfor treatment with anti-Her2 antibody-anti-mitotic agent conjugate. Inone embodiment, the method comprises detecting whether the ABCC3 gene isamplified in a test breast cancer sample from the patient, and selectingthe patient for treatment with an anti-Her2 antibody-anti-mitotic agentconjugate if amplification of the ABCC3 gene is not detected in the testbreast cancer sample. In another embodiment, the method comprisesdetecting whether the ABCC3 gene is overexpressed in a test breastcancer sample from the patient, and selecting the patient for treatmentwith anti-Her2 antibody-anti-mitotic agent conjugate if overexpressionof the ABCC3 gene is not detected in the test breast cancer sample. Insome embodiments, the method involves determining whether the patienthas Her2 positive breast cancer if this information is not alreadyknown, thus determining suitability for treatment with anti-Her2antibody therapy. In some embodiments, the anti-Her2antibody-anti-mitotic agent conjugate is a trastuzumab-anti-mitoticagent conjugate such as trastuzumab-DM1 or trastuzumab-MMAE.

The invention also provides methods of treating cancer patients based onthe ABCC3 amplification status of their cancer. In one embodiment, themethod comprises detecting whether the ABCC3 gene is amplified in a testcancer sample from the patient and administering to the patient atherapeutically effective amount of an anti-mitotic drug-basedchemotherapy if amplification of the ABCC3 gene is not detected in thetest cancer sample. In another embodiment, the method comprisesdetecting whether the ABCC3 gene is overexpressed in a test cancersample from the patient and administering to the patient atherapeutically effective amount of an anti-mitotic drug-basedchemotherapy if overexpression of the ABCC3 gene is not detected in thetest cancer sample. In one embodiment, the patient has Her2 positivebreast cancer and is administered an anti-Her2 antibody-anti-mitoticagent conjugate if amplification or overexpression of the ABCC3 gene isnot detected in the test cancer sample. In some embodiments, theanti-Her2 antibody-anti-mitotic agent conjugate is atrastuzumab-anti-mitotic agent conjugate such as trastuzumab-DM1 ortrastuzumab-MMAE.

In yet another embodiment, a patient is selected for anti-mitoticdrug-based chemotherapy based on absence of ABCC3 amplification oroverexpression in their cancer and administered a therapeuticallyeffective amount of an anti-mitotic drug-based chemotherapy. In oneembodiment, the selected patient has Her2 positive breast cancer and isadministered an anti-Her2 antibody-anti-mitotic agent conjugate. In someembodiments, the anti-Her2 antibody-anti-mitotic agent conjugate is atrastuzumab-anti-mitotic agent conjugate such as trastuzumab-DM1 ortrastuzumab-MMAE.

Another aspect of the invention provides for a method of identifyinggene amplification variations that are associated with altered drugsensitivity. Most in vitro profiling efforts directed at understandingdrug resistance to date have focused on gene expression analyses. Thepresent invention describes the identification of DNA copy numberalterations that are associated with altered drug sensitivity throughanalyses of high density SNP array profiles (Affymetrix). Recent studieshave shown that high density single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP)arrays, in addition to their intended application in genotyping, can beused to detect genome wide DNA copy number changes and loss ofheterozygosity in human cancers (17). These arrays have been shown tohave applications in the identification of tumor suppressor and oncogeneloci by pinpointing recurrently deleted or amplified chromosomal regions(18).

The data presented herein shows that the arrays can be used to identifyamplified regions harboring genes that may modulate the activity oftherapeutic drugs. A key advantage of this approach is that geneamplification events are relatively stable and can ultimately be assayedon archival samples from clinical trials. One particularly appropriateassay to detect gene amplification events in the archival samples isfluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH). FISH assays are already partof routine clinical practice in the diagnosis of HER2 positive MBC (50)and are currently being evaluated as diagnostic tests to detect EGFRamplification as a possible biomarker of response to Tarceva or Erbitux(51).

Still another aspect of the invention provides for methods ofdetermining appropriate levels of dosing of an anti-mitotic agent forthose patients whose cancers comprise amplification and/oroverexpression of ABCC3. In one embodiment, the method comprisesdetermining whether ABCC3 is amplified and/or overexpressed in a testcancer sample of a patient and administering to the patient an increaseddose of anti-mitotic agent if ABCC3 is amplified or overexpressed. Thedose of anti-mitotic agent is increased to an amount wherein the cancershows a response to treatment with an anti-mitotic agent. In someembodiments, the dose of anti-mitotic agent administered to the patientis at least 1.2 times, or alternatively at least 1.3 times, oralternatively at least 1.5 times, or alternatively at least 2 times, oralternatively at least 2.5 times, or alternatively at least 3 times, oralternatively at least 5 times, or alternatively at least 10 times, theamount administered to a patient whose cancer does not comprise ABCC3amplification and/or overexpression.

Yet another aspect of the invention provides for methods of reducingresistance of a cancer cell to an anti-mitotic agent comprisingcontacting the cancer cell with an antagonist of ABCC3. In someembodiments, the ABCC3 antagonist serves to prevent amplification and/oroverexpression of ABCC3 and decreases the drug resistance conferred bythe amplification and/or overexpression. In other embodiments, the ABCC3antagonists serve to inhibit ABCC3 activity. Antagonists that are usefulin the methods include ABCC3 antibodies, RNA interference (RNAi) basedABCC3 antagonists, especially antisense RNA, miRNA, siRNA, and shRNAs,ABCC3 polypeptide binding oligopeptides, and ABCC3 binding organicmolecules.

A further aspect of the invention provides for a combination therapy fortreating a patient with a cancer that is resistant to anti-mitoticagents comprising administering to the patient an antagonist of ABCC3and an anti-mitotic agent. In some embodiments, the antagonist isselected from the group consisting of an ABCC3 antibody and an siRNAthat binds to ABCC3. In some embodiments the anti-mitotic agent isselected from the group consisting of taxanes, maytansinoids, andauristatins, and analogs and deriviatives thereof. In some embodiments,the anti-mitotic agent is conjugated to an antibody such as amaytansinoid-anti-Her2 antibody conjugate, for example, trastuzumab-DM1.In one embodiment, the combination therapy comprises treatment with ansiRNA that binds to ABCC3 and trastuzumab-DM1.

Such combination therapies noted above encompass combined administration(where two or more therapeutic agents are included in the same orseparate formulations), and separate administration, in which case,administration of an ABCC3 antagonist can occur prior to,simultaneously, and/or following, administration of the anti-mitoticagent.

In one embodiment, the ABCC3 antagonist is an anti-ABCC polypeptideantibody. Exemplary antibodies include polyclonal, monoclonal,humanized, bispecific, and heteroconjugate antibodies.

Polyclonal antibodies are preferably raised in animals by multiplesubcutaneous (sc) or intraperitoneal (ip) injections of the relevantantigen and an adjuvant. It may be useful to conjugate the relevantantigen (especially when synthetic peptides are used) to a protein thatis immunogenic in the species to be immunized For example, the antigencan be conjugated to keyhole limpet hemocyanin (KLH), serum albumin,bovine thyroglobulin, or soybean trypsin inhibitor, using a bifunctionalor derivatizing agent, e.g., maleimidobenzoyl sulfosuccinimide ester(conjugation through cysteine residues), N-hydroxysuccinimide (throughlysine residues), glutaraldehyde, succinic anhydride, SOCl₂, orR¹N═C═NR, where R and R¹ are different alkyl groups. In certainembodiments, the animals used to raise antibodies may be transgenicanimals. In certain such embodiments, the animals may be engineered suchthat they exhibit a complete absence of a polynucleotide encoding ABCC3,such that they have no ABCC3 expression (referred to as “knockout”animals). Methods of generating such animals are well-known in the art,see, e.g., Snouwaert et al., Science 257:1083, 1992; Lowell et al.,Nature 366:740-42, 1993; Capecchi, M. R., Science 244: 1288-1292, 1989.Raising antibodies to a particular protein or peptide in a knockoutanimal for that protein or peptide may be advantageous because anti-selfreactions in the animal that may reduce production and/or yields of theantibody should not occur, as is well known in the art.

Animals are immunized against the antigen, immunogenic conjugates, orderivatives by combining, e.g., 100 μg or 5 μg of the protein orconjugate (for rabbits or mice, respectively) with 3 volumes of Freund'scomplete adjuvant and injecting the solution intradermally at multiplesites. One month later, the animals are boosted with ⅕ to 1/10 theoriginal amount of peptide or conjugate in Freund's complete adjuvant bysubcutaneous injection at multiple sites. Seven to 14 days later, theanimals are bled and the scrum is assayed for antibody titer. Animalsare boosted until the titer plateaus. Conjugates also can be made inrecombinant cell culture as protein fusions. Also, aggregating agentssuch as alum are suitably used to enhance the immune response.

Monoclonal antibodies may be made using the hybridoma method firstdescribed by Kohler et al., Nature, 256:495 (1975), or may be made byrecombinant DNA methods (U.S. Pat. No. 4,816,567).

The anti-ABCC3 antibodies of the invention may further comprisehumanized antibodies or human antibodies. Humanized forms of non-human(e.g., murine) antibodies are chimeric immunoglobulins, immunoglobulinchains or fragments thereof (such as Fv, Fab, Fab′, F(ab′)₂ or otherantigen-binding subsequences of antibodies) which contain minimalsequence derived from non-human immunoglobulin. Humanized antibodiesinclude human immunoglobulins (recipient antibody) in which residuesfrom a complementary determining region (CDR) of the recipient arereplaced by residues from a CDR of a nonhuman species (donor antibody)such as mouse, rat or rabbit having the desired specificity, affinityand capacity. In some instances, Fv framework residues of the humanimmunoglobulin are replaced by corresponding non-human residues.Humanized antibodies may also comprise residues which are found neitherin the recipient antibody nor in the imported CDR or frameworksequences. In general, the humanized antibody will comprisesubstantially all of at least one, and typically two, variable domains,in which all or substantially all of the CDR regions correspond to thoseof a non-human immunoglobulin and all or substantially all of the FRregions are those of a human immunoglobulin consensus sequence. Thehumanized antibody optimally also will comprise at least a portion of animmunoglobulin constant region (Fc), typically that of a humanimmunoglobulin [Jones et al., Nature, 321:522-525 (1986); Riechmann etal., Nature, 332:323-329 (1988); and Presta, Curr. Op. Struct. Biol.,2:593-596 (1992)].

Methods for humanizing non-human antibodies are well known in the art.Generally, a humanized antibody has one or more amino acid residuesintroduced into it from a source which is non-human. These non-humanamino acid residues are often referred to as “import” residues, whichare typically taken from an “import” variable domain. Humanization canbe essentially performed following the method of Winter and co-workers[Jones et al., Nature, 321:522-525 (1986); Riechmann et al., Nature,332:323-327 (1988); Verhoeyen et al., Science, 239:1534-1536 (1988)], bysubstituting rodent CDRs or CDR sequences for the correspondingsequences of a human antibody. Accordingly, such “humanized” antibodiesare chimeric antibodies (U.S. Pat. No. 4,816,567), wherein substantiallyless than an intact human variable domain has been substituted by thecorresponding sequence from a non-human species. In practice, humanizedantibodies are typically human antibodies in which some CDR residues andpossibly some FR residues are substituted by residues from analogoussites in rodent antibodies.

The choice of human variable domains, both light and heavy, to be usedin making the humanized antibodies is very important to reduceantigenicity and HAMA response (human anti-mouse antibody) when theantibody is intended for human therapeutic use. According to theso-called “best-fit” method, the sequence of the variable domain of arodent antibody is screened against the entire library of known humanvariable domain sequences. The human V domain sequence which is closestto that of the rodent is identified and the human framework region (FR)within it accepted for the humanized antibody (Sims et al., J. Immunol.151:2296 (1993); Chothia et al., J. Mol. Biol., 196:901 (1987)). Anothermethod uses a particular framework region derived from the consensussequence of all human antibodies of a particular subgroup of light orheavy chains. The same framework may be used for several differenthumanized antibodies (Carter et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 89:4285(1992); Presta et al., J. Immunol. 151:2623 (1993)).

It is further important that antibodies be humanized with retention ofhigh binding affinity for the antigen and other favorable biologicalproperties. To achieve this goal, according to a preferred method,humanized antibodies are prepared by a process of analysis of theparental sequences and various conceptual humanized products usingthree-dimensional models of the parental and humanized sequences.Three-dimensional immunoglobulin models are commonly available and arefamiliar to those skilled in the art. Computer programs are availablewhich illustrate and display probable three-dimensional conformationalstructures of selected candidate immunoglobulin sequences. Inspection ofthese displays permits analysis of the likely role of the residues inthe functioning of the candidate immunoglobulin sequence, i.e., theanalysis of residues that influence the ability of the candidateimmunoglobulin to bind its antigen. In this way, FR residues can beselected and combined from the recipient and import sequences so thatthe desired antibody characteristic, such as increased affinity for thetarget antigen(s), is achieved. In general, the hypervariable regionresidues are directly and most substantially involved in influencingantigen binding.

Various forms of a humanized anti-ABCC3 polypeptide antibody arecontemplated. For example, the humanized antibody may be an antibodyfragment, such as a Fab, which is optionally conjugated with one or morecytotoxic agent(s) in order to generate an immunoconjugate.Alternatively, the humanized antibody may be an intact antibody, such asan intact IgG1 antibody.

As an alternative to humanization, human antibodies can be generated.For example, it is now possible to produce transgenic animals (e.g.,mice) that are capable, upon immunization, of producing a fullrepertoire of human antibodies in the absence of endogenousimmunoglobulin production. For example, it has been described that thehomozygous deletion of the antibody heavy-chain joining region (JO genein chimeric and germ-line mutant mice results in complete inhibition ofendogenous antibody production. Transfer of the human germ-lineimmunoglobulin gene array into such germ-line mutant mice will result inthe production of human antibodies upon antigen challenge. See, e.g.,Jakobovits et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 90:2551 (1993);Jakobovits et al., Nature, 362:255-258 (1993); Bruggemann et al., Yearin Immuno. 7:33 (1993); U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,545,806, 5,569,825, 5,591,669(all of GenPharm); U.S. Pat. No. 5,545,807; and WO 97/17852.

Alternatively, phage display technology (McCafferty et al., Nature348:552-553 [1990]) can be used to produce human antibodies and antibodyfragments in vitro, from immunoglobulin variable (V) domain generepertoires from unimmunized donors. According to this technique,antibody V domain genes are cloned in-frame into either a major or minorcoat protein gene of a filamentous bacteriophage, such as M13 or fd, anddisplayed as functional antibody fragments on the surface of the phageparticle. Because the filamentous particle contains a single-strandedDNA copy of the phage genome, selections based on the functionalproperties of the antibody also result in selection of the gene encodingthe antibody exhibiting those properties. Thus, the phage mimics some ofthe properties of the B-cell. Phage display can be performed in avariety of formats, reviewed in, e.g., Johnson, Kevin S. and Chiswell,David J., Current Opinion in Structural Biology 3:564-571 (1993).Several sources of V-gene segments can be used for phage display.Clackson et al., Nature, 352:624-628 (1991) isolated a diverse array ofanti-oxazolone antibodies from a small random combinatorial library of Vgenes derived from the spleens of immunized mice. A repertoire of Vgenes from unimmunized human donors can be constructed and antibodies toa diverse array of antigens (including self-antigens) can be isolatedessentially following the techniques described by Marks et al., J. Mol.Biol. 222:581-597 (1991), or Griffith et al., EMBO J. 12:725-734 (1993).See, also, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,565,332 and 5,573,905.

As discussed above, human antibodies may also be generated by in vitroactivated B cells (see U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,567,610 and 5,229,275).

In certain circumstances there are advantages of using antibodyfragments, rather than whole antibodies. The smaller size of thefragments allows for rapid clearance, and may lead to improved access tosolid tumors.

Various techniques have been developed for the production of antibodyfragments. Traditionally, these fragments were derived via proteolyticdigestion of intact antibodies (see, e.g., Morimoto et al., Journal ofBiochemical and Biophysical Methods 24:107-117 (1992); and Brennan etal., Science, 229:81 (1985)). However, these fragments can now beproduced directly by recombinant host cells. Fab, Fv and ScFv antibodyfragments can all be expressed in and secreted from E. coli, thusallowing the facile production of large amounts of these fragments.Antibody fragments can be isolated from the antibody phage librariesdiscussed above. Alternatively, Fab′-SH fragments can be directlyrecovered from E. coli and chemically coupled to form F(ab′)₂ fragments(Carter et al., Bio/Technology 10:163-167 (1992)). According to anotherapproach, F(ab′)₂ fragments can be isolated directly from recombinanthost cell culture. Fab and F(ab′)₂ fragment with increased in vivohalf-life comprising a salvage receptor binding epitope residues aredescribed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,869,046. Other techniques for theproduction of antibody fragments will be apparent to the skilledpractitioner. In other embodiments, the antibody of choice is a singlechain Fv fragment (scFv). See WO 93/16185; U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,571,894; and5,587,458. Fv and sFv are the only species with intact combining sitesthat are devoid of constant regions; thus, they are suitable for reducednonspecific binding during in vivo use. sFv fusion proteins may beconstructed to yield fusion of an effector protein at either the aminoor the carboxy terminus of an sFv. See Antibody Engineering, ed.Borrebaeck, supra. The antibody fragment may also be a “linearantibody”, e.g., as described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,641,870 for example.Such linear antibody fragments may be monospecific or bispecific.

It may be desirable to modify the antibody of the invention with respectto effector function, e.g., so as to enhance antigen-dependentcell-mediated cyotoxicity (ADCC) and/or complement dependentcytotoxicity (CDC) of the antibody. This may be achieved by introducingone or more amino acid substitutions in an Fc region of the antibody.Alternatively or additionally, cysteine residue(s) may be introduced inthe Fc region, thereby allowing interchain disulfide bond formation inthis region. The homodimeric antibody thus generated may have improvedinternalization capability and/or increased complement-mediated cellkilling and antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity (ADCC). See Caronet al., J. Exp Med. 176:1191-1195 (1992) and Shopes, B. J. Immunol.148:2918-2922 (1992). Homodimeric antibodies with enhanced anti-tumoractivity may also be prepared using heterobifunctional cross-linkers asdescribed in Wolff et al., Cancer Research 53:2560-2565 (1993).Alternatively, an antibody can be engineered which has dual Fc regionsand may thereby have enhanced complement lysis and ADCC capabilities.See Stevenson et al., Anti-Cancer Drug Design 3:219-230 (1989). Toincrease the serum half life of the antibody, one may incorporate asalvage receptor binding epitope into the antibody (especially anantibody fragment) as described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,739,277, for example.As used herein, the term “salvage receptor binding epitope” refers to anepitope of the Fc region of an IgG molecule (e.g., IgG₁, IgG₂, IgG₃, orIgG₄) that is responsible for increasing the in vivo scrum half-life ofthe IgG molecule.

Another potential ABCC3 antagonist is an antisense RNA or DNA constructprepared using antisense technology, where, e.g., an antisense RNA orDNA molecule acts to block directly the translation of mRNA byhybridizing to targeted mRNA and preventing protein translation.Antisense technology can be used to control gene expression throughtriple-helix formation or antisense DNA or RNA, both of which methodsare based on binding of a polynucleotide to DNA or RNA. For example, the5′ coding portion of the polynucleotide sequence, which encodes themature ABCC3 polypeptide herein, can be used to design an antisense RNAoligonucleotide of from about 10 to 40 base pairs in length. A DNAoligonucleotide is designed to be complementary to a region of the geneinvolved in transcription (triple helix—see Lee et al., Nucl. AcidsRes., 6:3073 (1979); Cooney et al., Science, 241: 456 (1988); Dervan etal., Science, 251:1360 (1991)), thereby preventing transcription and theproduction of the ABCC3 polypeptide. The antisense RNA oligonucleotidehybridizes to the mRNA in vivo and blocks translation of the mRNAmolecule into the ABCC3 polypeptide (antisense—Okano, Neurochem., 56:560(1991); Oligodeoxynucleotides as Antisense Inhibitors of Gene Expression(CRC Press: Boca Raton, Fla., 1988). The oligonucleotides describedabove can also be delivered to cells such that the antisense RNA or DNAmay be expressed in vivo to inhibit production of the ABCC3 polypeptide.When antisense DNA is used, oligodeoxyribonucleotides derived from thetranslation-initiation site, e.g., between about −10 and +10 positionsof the target gene nucleotide sequence, are preferred.

Small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) are double stranded RNA moleculesgenerally less than 30 nucleotides in length that reduce expression of atarget gene. siRNAs have proven useful as a tool in studies ofmodulating gene expression where traditional antagonists such as smallmolecules or antibodies have failed. (Shi Y., Trends in Genetics19(1):9-12 (2003)). In vitro synthesized, double stranded RNAs that are21 to 23 nucleotides in length can act as interfering RNAs (iRNAs) andcan specifically inhibit gene expression (Fire A., Trends in Genetics391; 806-810 (1999)). These iRNAs act by mediating degradation of theirtarget RNAs. Since they are under 30 nuclotides in length, however theydo not trigger a cell antiviral defense mechanism. In some embodimentsof the invention, the siRNA has at least about 90%, 91%, 92%, 93%, 94%,95%, 96%, 97%, 98%, 99%, or 100% nucleic acid sequence identity with aportion of the coding sequence of the ABCC3 encoding polynucleotide orits complement.

ABCC3 polypeptide binding oligopeptides of the invention areoligopeptides that bind, preferably specifically, to an ABCC3polypeptide as described herein. ABCC3 polypeptide binding oligopeptidesmay be chemically synthesized using known oligopeptide synthesismethodologies or may be prepared and purified using recombinanttechnology. ABCC3 polypeptide binding oligopeptides are usually at leastabout 5 amino acids in length, alternatively at least about 6, 7, 8, 9,10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27,28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45,46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63,64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81,82, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87, 88, 89, 90, 91, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99,or 100 amino acids in length or more, wherein such oligopeptides thatare capable of binding, preferably specifically, to a ABCC3 polypeptideas described herein. ABCC3 polypeptide binding oligopeptides may beidentified without undue experimentation using well known techniques. Inthis regard, it is noted that techniques for screening oligopeptidelibraries for oligopeptides that are capable of specifically binding toa polypeptide target are well known in the art (see, e.g., U.S. Pat.Nos. 5,556,762, 5,750,373, 4,708,871, 4,833,092, 5,223,409, 5,403,484,5,571,689, 5,663,143; PCT Publication Nos. WO 84/03506 and WO84/03564;Geysen et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A., 81:3998-4002 (1984);Geysen et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A., 82:178-182 (1985); Geysenet al., in Synthetic Peptides as Antigens, 130149 (1986); Geysen et al.,J. Immunol. Meth., 102:259-274 (1987); Schoofs et al., J. Immunol.,140:611-616 (1988), Cwirla, S. E. et al. (1990) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci.USA, 87:6378; Lowman, N. B. et al. (1991) Biochemistry, 30:10832;Clackson, T. et al. (1991) Nature, 352: 624; Marks, J. D. et al. (1991),J. Mol. Biol., 222:581; Kang, A. S. et al. (1991) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci.USA, 88:8363, and Smith, G. P. (1991) Current Opin. Biotechnol., 2:668).

In this regard, bacteriophage (phage) display is one well knowntechnique which allows one to screen large oligopeptide libraries toidentify member(s) of those libraries which are capable of specificallybinding to a polypeptide target. Phage display is a technique by whichvariant polypeptides are displayed as fusion proteins to the coatprotein on the surface of bacteriophage particles (Scott, J. K. andSmith, G. P. (1990) Science, 249: 386). The utility of phage displaylies in the fact that large libraries of selectively randomized proteinvariants (or randomly cloned cDNAs) can be rapidly and efficientlysorted for those sequences that bind to a target molecule with highaffinity. Display of peptide (Cwirla, S. E. et al. (1990) Proc. Natl.Acad. Sci. USA, 87:6378) or protein (Lowman, H. B. et al. (1991)Biochemistry, 30:10832; Clackson, T. et al. (1991) Nature, 352: 624;Marks, J. D. et al. (1991), J. Mol. Biol., 222:581; Kang, A. S. et al.(1991) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 88:8363) libraries on phage have beenused for screening millions of polypeptides or oligopeptides for oneswith specific binding properties (Smith, G. P. (1991) Current Opin.Biotechnol., 2:668). Sorting phage libraries of random mutants requiresa strategy for constructing and propagating a large number of variants,a procedure for affinity purification using the target receptor, and ameans of evaluating the results of binding enrichments. U.S. Pat. Nos.5,223,409, 5,403,484, 5,571,689, and 5,663,143.

Methods of generating peptide libraries and screening these librariesare also disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,723,286, 5,432,018, 5,580,717,5,427,908, 5,498,530, 5,770,434, 5,734,018, 5,698,426, 5,763,192, and5,723,323.

ABCC3 polypeptide binding small molecules are preferably organicmolecules other than oligopeptides or antibodies as defined herein thatbind, preferably specifically, to an ABCC3 polypeptide as describedherein. ABCC3 polypeptide binding organic small molecules may beidentified and chemically synthesized using known methodology (see,e.g., PCT Publication Nos. WO00/00823 and WO00/39585). ABCC3 polypeptidebinding organic small molecules are usually less than about 2000 daltonsin size, alternatively less than about 1500, 750, 500, 250 or 200daltons in size, wherein such organic small molecules that are capableof binding, preferably specifically, to a ABCC3 polypeptide as describedherein may be identified without undue experimentation using well knowntechniques. In this regard, it is noted that techniques for screeningorganic small molecule libraries for molecules that are capable ofbinding to a polypeptide target are well known in the art (see, e.g.,PCT Publication Nos. WO00/00823 and WO00/39585). ABCC3 polypeptidebinding organic small molecules may be, for example, aldehydes, ketones,oximes, hydrazones, semicarbazones, carbazides, primary amines,secondary amines, tertiary amines, N-substituted hydrazines, hydrazides,alcohols, ethers, thiols, thioethers, disulfides, carboxylic acids,esters, amides, ureas, carbamates, carbonates, ketals, thioketals,acetals, thioacetals, aryl halides, aryl sulfonates, alkyl halides,alkyl sulfonates, aromatic compounds, heterocyclic compounds, anilines,alkenes, alkynes, diols, amino alcohols, oxazolidines, oxazolines,thiazolidincs, thiazolines, enamincs, sulfonamides, epoxides,aziridincs, isocyanatcs, sulfonyl chlorides, diazo compounds, acidchlorides, or the like.

Pharmaceutical formulations comprising any of the above agents areprepared for storage by mixing the antibody or immunoconjugate havingthe desired degree of purity with optional physiologically acceptablecarriers, excipients or stabilizers (Remington's Pharmaceutical Sciences16th edition, Osol, A. Ed. (1980)) in the form of aqueous solutions orlyophilized or other dried formulations. Acceptable carriers,excipients, or stabilizers are nontoxic to recipients at the dosages andconcentrations employed, and include buffers such as phosphate, citrate,histidine and other organic acids; antioxidants including ascorbic acidand methionine; preservatives (such as octadecyldimethylbenzyl ammoniumchloride; hexamethonium chloride; benzalkonium chloride, benzethoniumchloride); phenol, butyl or benzyl alcohol; alkyl parabens such asmethyl or propyl paraben; catechol; resorcinol; cyclohexanol;3-pentanol; and m-cresol); low molecular weight (less than about 10residues) polypeptides; proteins, such as serum albumin, gelatin, orimmunoglobulins; hydrophilic polymers such as polyvinylpyrrolidone;amino acids such as glycine, glutamine, asparagine, histidine, arginine,or lysine; monosaccharides, disaccharides, and other carbohydratesincluding glucose, mannose, or dextrins; chelating agents such as EDTA;sugars such as sucrose, mannitol, trehalose or sorbitol; salt-formingcounter-ions such as sodium; metal complexes (e.g., Zn-proteincomplexes); and/or non-ionic surfactants such as TWEEN™, PLURONICS™ orpolyethylene glycol (PEG). Pharmaceutical formulations to be used for invivo administration are generally sterile. This is readily accomplishedby filtration through sterile filtration membranes.

An agent may also be entrapped in microcapsule prepared, for example, bycoacervation techniques or by interfacial polymerization, for example,hydroxymethylcellulose or gelatin-microcapsule andpoly-(methylmethacylate) microcapsule, respectively, in colloidal drugdelivery systems (for example, liposomes, albumin microspheres,microemulsions, nano-particles and nanocapsules) or in macroemulsions.Such techniques are disclosed in Remington's Pharmaceutical Sciences16th edition, Osol, A. Ed. (1980).

Sustained-release preparations may be prepared. Suitable examples ofsustained-release preparations include semipermeable matrices of solidhydrophobic polymers containing the agent of interest, which matricesare in the form of shaped articles, e.g., films, or microcapsule.Examples of sustained-release matrices include polyesters, hydrogels(for example, poly(2-hydroxyethyl-methacrylate), or poly(vinylalcohol)),polylactides (U.S. Pat. No. 3,773,919), copolymers of L-glutamic acidand γ ethyl-L-glutamate, non-degradable ethylene-vinyl acetate,degradable lactic acid-glycolic acid copolymers such as the LUPRONDEPOT™ (injectable microspheres composed of lactic acid-glycolic acidcopolymer and leuprolide acetate), and poly-D-(−)-3-hydroxybutyric acid.While polymers such as ethylene-vinyl acetate and lactic acid-glycolicacid enable release of molecules for over 100 days, certain hydrogelsrelease proteins for shorter time periods. When encapsulated agentsremain in the body for a long time, they may denature or aggregate as aresult of exposure to moisture at 37° C., resulting in a loss ofbiological activity and, for antibodies, possible changes inimmunogenicity. Rational strategies can be devised for stabilizationdepending on the mechanism involved. For example, if the aggregationmechanism is discovered to be intermolecular S—S bond formation throughthio-disulfide interchange, stabilization may be achieved by modifyingsulfhydryl residues, lyophilizing from acidic solutions, controllingmoisture content, using appropriate additives, and developing specificpolymer matrix compositions.

Anti-Mitotic Agents

An anti-mitotic agent is any compound that inhibits, prevents, orotherwise disrupts mitosis. Specific examples of anti-mitotic agentsinclude, but are not limited to, taxanes, such as paclitaxel anddocetaxel; maytansinoids, including maytansinol and maytansinolanalogues modified in the aromatic ring or at other positions of themaytansinol molecule, such as various maytansinol esters, and DM1 andDM4; dolastatin 10, dolastatin 15, and auristatins, such as monomethylauristatin E (MMAE) and monomethyl auristatin F (MMAF); vinca alkoloids,such as vinblastine and vincristine; and analogs and deriviativesthereof.

The taxancs are anticancer drugs both derived from the yew tree.Docetaxel (TAXOTERE®, Rhone-Poulenc Rorer), derived from the Europeanyew, is a semisynthetic analogue of paclitaxel (TAXOL®, Bristol-MyersSquibb). Paclitaxel and docetaxel promote the assembly of microtubulesfrom tubulin dimers and stabilize microtubules by preventingdepolymerization, which results in the inhibition of mitosis in cells.

Maytansinoids are tubulin-binding agents that are potent anti-mitotics,causing cells to arrest in the G2/M phase of the cell cycle andultimately leading to cell death. Maytansinoids are derivatives of themaytansine, a compound first isolated from the east African shrubMaytenus serrata (U.S. Pat. No. 3,896,111). Subsequently, it wasdiscovered that certain microbes also produce maytansinoids, such asmaytansinol and C-3 maytansinol esters (U.S. Pat. No. 4,151,042).Synthetic maytansinol and maytansinol analogues have been reported. SeeU.S. Pat. Nos. 4,137,230; 4,248,870; 4,256,746; 4,260,608; 4,265,814;4,294,757; 4,307,016; 4,308,268; 4,308,269; 4,309,428; 4,313,946;4,315,929; 4,317,821; 4,322,348; 4,331,598; 4,361,650; 4,364,866;4,424,219; 4,450,254; 4,362,663; and 4,371,533, and Kawai et al (1984)Chem. Pharm. Bull. 3441-3451).

The auristatins are analogs of dolastatin 10 (a pentapeptide naturalproduct), including monomethyl auristatin E (MMAE) and monomethylauristatin F (MMAF). Molecules in this family inhibit tubulinpolymerization. In general, the activities are 100-1,000 times morepotent than doxorubicin. (Pettit, G. R., The dolastatins. Progress inthe Chemistry of Organic Natural Products 70, 1-79, 1997).

The anti-mitotic agent is optionally conjugated to an antibody.

There are many linking groups known in the art for making antibody-agentconjugates. Antibody—maytansinoid conjugates have been widely describedin the literature. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,208,020 or EPPatent 0 425 235 B1, and Chari et al., Cancer Research 52:127-131(1992). The linking groups useful for making antibody-agent conjugatesinclude disulfide groups, thioether groups, acid labile groups,photolabile groups, peptidase labile groups, or esterase labile groups,as disclosed in the above-identified patents, disulfide and thioethergroups being preferred.

Conjugates of the antibody and maytansinoid, or other anti-mitoticagent, may be made using a variety of bifunctional protein couplingagents such as N-succinimidyl-3-(2-pyridyldithio) propionate (SPDP),succinimidyl-4-(N-maleimidomethyl) cyclohexane-1-carboxylate,iminothiolane (IT), bifunctional derivatives of imidoesters (such asdimethyl adipimidate HCl), active esters (such as disuccinimidylsuberate), aldehydes (such as glutaraldehyde), bis-azido compounds (suchas bis (p-azidobenzoyl) hexanediamine), bis-diazonium derivatives (suchas bis-(p-diazoniumbenzoyl)-ethylenediamine), diisocyanates (such astoluene 2,6-diisocyanate), and bis-active fluorine compounds (such as1,5-difluoro-2,4-dinitrobenzene). Particularly preferred coupling agentsinclude N-succinimidyl-3-(2-pyridyldithio) propionate (SPDP) (Carlssonet al., Biochem. J. 173:723-737 [1978]) andN-succinimidyl-4-(2-pyridylthio)pentanoate (SPP) to provide for adisulfide linkage.

The linker may be attached to the maytansinoid molecule at variouspositions, depending on the type of the link. For example, an esterlinkage may be formed by reaction with a hydroxyl group usingconventional coupling techniques. The reaction may occur at the C-3position having a hydroxyl group, the C-14 position modified withhydroxymethyl, the C15 position modified with a hydroxyl group, and theC-20 position having a hydroxyl group. In one embodiment, the linkage isformed at the C-3 position of maytansinol or a maytansinol analogue.

Examples of anti-mitotic-antibody conjugates include, but are notlimited to, trastuzumab-DM1 (Genentech/ImmunoGen, described in U.S. Pat.No. 7,097,840, incorporated by reference in its entirety herein),Trastuzumab-auristatin (Genentech/Seattle Genetics), Cantuzumabmertansine (huC242-DM1, SB-408075) (ImmunoGen), BB-10901 (huN901-DM1)(ImmunoGen), MLN2704(DM1) (Millennium Pharmaceuticals), Bivatuzumabmertansine (DM1) (Boehringer Ingelheim), huMy9-6-DM4 (AVE9633)(Sanofi-aventisc), huC242-DM4 (ImmunoGen), SGN-35 (Monomethylauristatin) (Seattle Genetics), SGN-75 (Monomethyl auristatin) (SeattleGenetics), and CR011-vcMIVIAE (Curagen/Seattle Genetics). Lambert, J.M., et al, Current Opinion in Pharmacology, 5:543-549 (2005). See alsoUS20050276812, WO2004110498, Wul, A. M., and Senter, P. D., NatureBiotech 23: 1137-1146 (2005). Trastuzumab-MCC-DM1 (T-DM1) (CAS Reg. No.139504-50-0) has the structure:

where Tr is trastuzumab, linked through linker moiety MCC, to themaytansinoid drug moiety, DM1 (U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,208,020; 6,441,163). Thedrug to antibody ratio or drug loading is represented by p in the abovestructure of trastuzumab-MCC-DM1, and ranges in integer values from 1 toabout 8. The drug loading value p is 1 to 8. Trastuzumab-MCC-DM1includes all mixtures of variously loaded and attached antibody-drugconjugates where 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8 drug moieties are covalentlyattached to the antibody trastuzumab (U.S. Pat. No. 7,097,840; US2005/0276812; US 2005/0166993). Trastuzumab is an antibody that hasantigen binding residues of, or derived from, the murinc 4D5 antibody(ATCC CRL 10463, deposited with American Type Culture Collection, 12301Parklawn Drive, Rockville, Md. 20852 under the Budapest Treaty on May24, 1990). Exemplary humanized 4D5 antibodies include huMAb4D5-1,huMAb4D5-2, huMAb4D5-3, huMAb4D5-4, huMAb4D5-5, huMAb4D5-6, huMAb4D5-7and huMAb4D5-8 (HERCEPTINO) as in U.S. Pat. No. 5,821,337.

Trastuzumab-DM1 (or T-DM1) has been shown to be efficacious intrastuzumab-sensitive and trastuzumab-insensitive models ofHER2-overexpressing cancer. Clinical studies are currently under way toassess the safety and efficacy of T-DM1 in patients withHER2-overexpressing breast cancer.

EXAMPLES Example 1 Techniques and Assays

Cell Lines and Viability Experiments

Breast cancer cell lines AU565, BT-474, BT-549, CAMA-1, DU4475, HCC1143,HCC1419, HCC1428, HCC2218, HCC70, Hs578T, KPL-1, MCF-7, MDA-MB-231,MDA-MB-435S, MDA-MB-436, MDA-MB-453, MDA-MB-468, T-47D, UACC-812,ZR-75-1 and ZR-75-30 were obtained from American Type Culture Collection(ATCC, Manassas, Va.). The cell lines CAL-120, CAL-148, CAL-51,CAL-85-1, EFM-19, EFM-192A, EVSA-T, and MT-3 were obtained from theDeutsche Sammlung von Mikroorganismen and Zellkulturen GmbH (DSMZ,Braunschweig, Germany). All cell lines were maintained in RPMI 1640 orDMEM supplemented with 10% fetal bovine serum (Sigma, St. Louis, Mo.),non-essential amino acids and 2 mmol/L L-glutamine. Though annotated asbreast lines, MDA-MB-435S may actually be of melanoma origin and MT-3 ofcolorectal origin based on molecular and genetic criteria (19, 20).These findings do not impact the conclusions of this study.

For MMAE and paclitaxel IC50 determination, cells were plated inquadruplicate at a density of 3000 cells per well in 384-well plates innormal growth medium and allowed to adhere overnight. Paclitaxel (Sigma)or MMAE (Seattle Genetics, Seattle, Wash.) were added in 10concentrations based on a three-fold dilution series (1 μmol/L maximalpaclitaxel or 0.1 μmol/L maximal for MMAE).

Cell viability was measured 72 hours later using the Celltiter-GloLuminescent Cell Viability Assay (Promega, Madison, Wis.). Theconcentration of drug resulting in the 50% inhibition of cell viability(IC50) was calculated from a four-parameter curve analysis (XLfit, 1DSSsoftware) and was determined from a minimum of three experiments. Celllines that did not show 50% reduction in cell viability in response todrug treatment in the majority of experiments conducted were consideredto not have reached an IC50 by definition and are listed as having anIC50 of >100 nM (MMAE) or >1000 nM (paclitaxel). FIG. 6 providesexamples of representative cell viability experiments for six celllines. Cell lines EFM192A, NDAMB361, and BT474 were classified asresistant to each agent in the bioinformatic analysis. AU565, EFM19, andMDAMB468 were classified as sensitive. IC50 values from fitted curvesare shown in the charts to the right of each graph.

For ABCC3-overexpressing clones of the EVSA-T cell line that did notachieve IC50, we calculated the half-maximal effect concentration, orEC50, in GraphPad Prism software (GraphPad Software, Inc). The controlcell line in FIG. 5 is in fact a clone of EVSA-T derived aftertransfection with an empty vector and in the particular experiment shownachieved an IC50.

Breast Tumor Samples

Primary breast tumors from 145 independent breast cancer patients wereutilized to make genomic DNA for Agilent Array CGH analysis (21). Allthe tumors were fresh frozen and found to have greater than 70% tumorcontent, and all were classified as infiltrating ductal carcinoma. ABCC3FISH studies were conducted on 61 additional independent primary breasttumor samples from the Genentech tumor bank.

Gene Expression Microarray Studies

Gene expression analysis of breast cancer cell lines was carried out onRNA extracted from sub-confluent cell cultures using Qiagen RNAeasykits. RNA quality was verified by running samples on an AgilentBioanalyzer 2100 and samples of sufficient quality were profiled onAffymetrix HGU133Plus_2.0 chips (Santa Clara, Calif.). Preparation ofcomplementary RNA, array hybridizations, scanning and subsequent arrayimage data analysis were done using the manufacturer's specifiedprotocol.

For overall unsupervised hierarchical clustering analysis of breastcancer cell lines, gene expression data were filtered to remove probesets that showed little variation across the cell lines. Briefly, probesthat did not show at least a five fold variation across the samples(max/min>10) and an absolute intensity difference of at least 250(max-min>250) were excluded from hierarchical clustering analysis. Datapreprocessing involved log transforming and median centering geneexpression values, after which average linkage clustering was carriedout using Cluster and TreeView software (22).

SNP Array and Agilent aCGH Copy Number Studies

Cell line copy number analysis was carried out on genomic DNA extractedfrom sub-confluent cell cultures using Qiagen DNAeasy kits. For eachcell line 500 ng of genomic DNA was hybridized to Genechip 100K mappingarrays (Affymetrix, Inc., Santa Clara, Calif.) according to themanufacturer's instructions. These arrays contain probe sets for morethan 116,000 SNP loci derived from all human chromosomes (except the Ychromosome), with a mean marker distance of 26 kb (23). SNP calls andsignal quantification were obtained with Gene Chip Operating System.Agilent Human Genome 244A CGH microarrays and Agilent feature extractionsoftware were run according to the manufacturer's instructions andGenome-smoothed analysis DNA copy number (GSA_CN) was calculated basedon the hybridization intensity (the sum of both allele intensities) foreach SNP probe with the Affymetrix Chromosome Copy Number Analysis Tool3.0 (CNAT 3.0). Copy number data were segmented with the GLADsegmentation algorithm (24).

Associations between GSA_CN copy number and drug sensitivity wereidentified with Matlab software (The MathWorks, Inc. Natick, Mass., USA)using a version of the maxT procedure (26). For each drug, a teststatistic was calculated for each SNP reflecting the difference betweenlog-transformed copy number in sensitive and resistant cell lines. Thestatistic was calculated as the absolute value of a standard t statistic(two sample, unequal variance), except that it was set to zero for thoseSNPs with less than 1.75-fold difference in mean copy number betweensensitive and resistant classes. Then the null distribution of maximumtest statistics across all SNPs was estimated in 10,000 randompermutations of the sensitivity labels. The p-value for each SNP wascalculated as the fraction of permutations in which the maximum teststatistic was greater than or equal to the observed statistic for thatSNP. The resulting p-values control the family-wise error rate and takeinto account the number of SNPs tested.

HER2 Copy Number Determination by Quantitative RT PCR

Quantitative PCR was performed using ABI Prism 7700 Sequence DetectionSystem (Applied Biosystems, Foster City, Calif.) on genomic DNA preparedas described above. qRT-PCR was performed using primersCACTGTCTGCACCTTGCTTTG (SEQ ID NO: 1) and GCTCTGCAGCTATTGAAAGAACAA (SEQID NO: 2) for Her 2 and AAAGCCGCTCAACTACATGG (SEQ ID NO:3) andTGCTTTGAATGCGTCCCAGAG (SEQ ID NO: 4) for Line-1 repetitive elements.Line-1 is a repetitive element with similar copy numbers per haploidgenome between human normal and neoplastic cells (27). Quantificationwas based on standard curves from a serial dilution of human normalgenomic DNA. The relative target copy number level was also normalizedto normal human genomic DNA as calibrator. Copy number change of targetgene relative to the Line-1 and the calibrator were determined using theformula E-[(CP_(target)−C_(pref))control−(CP_(target)−C_(pref))test] asdescribed by Kindich et al (28). Conditions for quantitative PCRreaction were as described in the Invitrogen Platinum® SYBR® Green qPCRSuperMix-UDG w/ROX package insert (catalog number 11744-500).

Fluorescence In Situ Hybridization (FISH) Analysis

Probes

A bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC) contig comprising of 2overlapping clones, CTD-2605A1 and CTD-3006C13, covering the entireABCC3 loci and adjoining areas (based on the USCS Genome Browser March2006 assembly) were used as a probe for the FISH experiments.Commercially available probes for HER2/CEP17 (Pathvysion, Vysis/AbbottLaboratories, Des Plaines, Ill.) and CEP17 (Vysis/Abbott Laboratories,Des Plaines, Ill.) were also used for the FISH experiments.

FISH Analysis

Cell lines were prepared for cytogenetic analysis by incubation with 0.1μg/mL Colcemid (Invitrogen) for 2-3 h, followed by osmotic swelling inKCl (0.075 M) and fixation in methanol: acetic acid (3:1), as previouslydescribed (29). DNA from the BAC clones was extracted by standardmethods.

The extracted BAC DNA was directly labeled with Spectrum Orange,Spectrum Green, (Vysis/Abbott Laboratories, Des Plaines, Ill.) ordiethylaminocoumarin (DEAC) (Invitrogen) by nick translation using theVysis Nick Translation Kit (Vysis/Abbott Laboratories) according to themanufacturer's instructions. FISH to normal human metaphases (AbbottLaboratories, Des Plaines, Ill.) confirmed the genomic location of theBAC clones. Approximately 300 ng of labeled probes were precipitated inexcess Human Cot-1 DNA (Invitrogen) and sonicated salmon sperm DNA(Sigma) and resuspended in a 50% formamide, 10% dextran sulfate, and2′SSC hybridization buffer (Vysis/Abbott Laboratories, Des Plaines,Ill.) for the FISH experiments. FISH on cytogenetic preparations andformalin fixed paraffin embedded (FFPE) tissue was performed asdescribed previously (Pandita et al., 2004), with some modifications.After an overnight incubation at 56°-60° C., the slides weredeparaffinized in 3 washes of CitroSolv for 5 min each, followed by twowashes in alcohol. After air-drying, the slides were incubated in a 1Msolution of NaSCN for 30 min at 80° C. and then were treated with pepsinprior to additional washes in water and a series of ethanol. Driedslides were then co-denatured (76° C. for 6 min) with the probe and werehybridized overnight at 37° C. (ThermoBrite; Vysis, Downers Grove,Ill.). Post-hybridization washes and counter-staining were done in amanner similar to those previously described. The slides were visualizedusing an Olympus BX61 microscope and analyzed using FISHView software(Applied Spectral Imaging, Vista Calif.). The copy number analysis andratio of HER2/ABCC3 to CEP17 was performed as per the manufacturer'sinstructions.

Functional Validation Experiments

High content screening assays were carried out on an Arrayscan VTI(Cellomics Inc, Pittsburgh, Pa.). Cells were transfected in 96 wellformat using siRNA “Smartpool” oligonucleotides purchased from DharmaconInc and Oligofectamine transfection reagents. To prioritize genes forfunctional studies, 2-sided Wilcoxon rank sum tests using the Rprogramming language (http://www.r-project.org) were done to identifygenes with a significant difference in gene expression in cell lineswith more than 4 copies compared to those with less than 4 copies of the17q21.3 amplicon. An example of differential expression for gene thatemerged from this analysis, ABCC3 (p=0.0053) is shown in FIG. 3. Thisanalysis combined with availability of reagents for RNAi experiments ledto the selection of the following 24 genes for functional studies in theEFM-192A cell line: ABCC3, COL1A1, CROP, EAP, EPN3, FLJ13855, F1120920,HOXB7, LOC201191, ITGB3, KIAA0924, KPNB1, LOC400604, LOC81558, MGC11242,MGC15396, NDP52, PDK2, PHB, PP1R9B, SLC35B1, SPOP, TOB1, WNT3. Follow-upstudies with ABCC3 siRNA were conducted in the additional cell linesZR75-30, MDAMB-453 and HCC-1428. A non-targeting control (NTC) siRNAthat does not show significant homology to any sequence in the humangenome was used as a negative control in all RNAi experiments (asdescribed in technical notes at www.dharmacon.com). After 48 hours or 72hours incubation at 37 C, cells were fixed in 3.7% formaldehyde andpermeabilized in 0.1% Triton X-100, followed by labeling with a 1:500dilution of anti-phospho histone H3 (pH3, Upstate) and subsequent 1:250dilution of Alexa-fluor 488 (Molecular probes) Goat anti-rabbitsecondary antibody. Cells were counterstained with Hoechst-33258 toallow identification of nuclei and the percentage of cells positive fornuclear pH3 immunofluorescence, also known as the Mitotic Index (30),was then quantitated for at least 1000 cells per well using CellomicsTarget Activation software. All experiments were repeated at least threetimes. qRT-PCR (5′primer GATTCCAGCCGCTTCAGTT (SEQ ID NO: 5), 3′ primerCCTGGCTGTGCTCTACACCT (SEQ ID NO: 6) on a ABI 7900 was performed toconfirm that the siRNA pool resulted in 90% knockdown of ABCC3 relativeto a control siRNA.

For ABCC3 overexpression experiments a full length ABCC3 cDNA cloned inthe CMV promoter containing vector pCMV5 (Invitrogen, Carlsbad, Calif.)was verified by sequencing the entire coding sequence. The construct wastransfected into EVSA-T cells and stable clones were selected by growthin lmg/ml geneticin (Invitrogen Carlsbad, Calif.). Overexpression ofABCC3 in stable clones was confirmed by qRT-PCR on cDNA derived fromlines containing pCMV5-ABCC3, pCMV5 vector alone, or the parental EVSA-Tstrain. All stable cell lines described in this report were determinedin qRT-PCR experiments to express at least 25-35× more ABCC3 transcriptthan vector control lines or the parental cell line.

Example 2 Molecular Characterization of Cell Lines

Affymetrix gene expression profiling was performed on cDNA prepared fromtotal mRNA and Affymetrix 100K SNP array profiling was done on DNA from44 breast cancer cell lines. Unsupervised analysis with the 11,000 mostdifferentially expressed genes across the cell line panel was used toclassify the cell lines into luminal and basal-like subtypes based ongene expression (FIG. 11). Cell lines classified as luminal expressedhigh levels of estrogen receptor alpha (ER) and many of the target genesregulated by ER, including GATA3, HNF3A, IGF1R and XBP1. Cell linesclassified as basal-like expressed high levels of some or all of thewell described basal markers vimentin, caveolin, MFGE8 and the basalcytokeratins such as KRTS (31). Because amplification of the HER2oncogene clearly defines a separate disease subtype that is not apparentfrom overall gene expression classification in cell lines (14), the HER2copy number was determined by qRT-PCR on genomic DNA and normalizationto Line-1 repetitive elements for all cell lines (FIG. 11). Cell linesthat show apparent copy number greater than four in these analyses areindicated as HER2 amplified in the Table shown in FIG. 11. The compositemolecular subtype in FIG. 11 is a classification derived from both theoverall gene expression results as well as the HER2 copy numberanalysis. These findings agree with previous reports (14) and suggestthat this collection of breast cancer cell lines reflects to some degreethe major transcriptional distinctions that define breast cancersubtypes and to some extent are representative as models of subtypes asluminal, basal-like, and HER2 amplified tumors. Genome wide patterns ofcopy number gain and loss in the cell line panel show that the breastcancer cell lines harbor most of the major copy number alterations (e.g.MYC, CCND1, HER2 gain and p16, PTEN loss) that have been described intumors. Subtype specific differences have been described (32). A findingrelevant to this study is that amplification at 17q21.3 is common inHER2 amplified and luminal cell lines but not in basal-like cell lines.

Example 3 In Vitro Sensitivity to Anti-Mitotic Drugs

31 breast cancer cell lines were screened for in vitro sensitivity topaclitaxel and MMAE. FIG. 11 shows the IC50 value for each compound,defined as the concentration required for 50% inhibition of cellviability in a standard luciferin based viability assay in all of thecell lines. Notably there was significant correlation between therelative sensitivity to each agent across the panel of cell lines(Spearman rank order correlation coefficient, rs=0.55). In addition,FIG. 1 shows that cell lines with the basal-like gene expressionsignature had lower average IC50 values and were more sensitive to eachagent than luminal or HER2 amplified cell lines as determined byKruskal-Wallis rank sum test (P-value=0.002 for MMAE, P-value=0.005 forpaclitaxel)

Example 4 Identification of Genomic Alterations that Correlate with InVitro Sensitivity

The regions of chromosomal gain or loss that correlated with sensitivityto paclitaxel or MMAE were identified through supervised analysis of SNParray copy number data. First, cell lines were classified into eithersensitive (IC50<10 nM) or resistant (MMAE IC50>100 nM, PaclitaxelIC50>1000 nM) groups based on the sensitivity data. Then the maxTalgorithm (26) was used to analyze data from approximately 115,000 SNPsand individual SNPs were identified where the mean copy number differedbetween sensitive and resistant classes with genome-wide significance.In the case of paclitaxel a group of SNPs on chromosome 17 starting atchromosome position 44,303,217 and ending at position 44,724,301(17q21.21 to 17q21.23) showed statistically significant copy numberdifferences between sensitive and resistant classes (P-value forrs2411377=0.04). The same group of markers also showed significantassociation between copy number and MMAE sensitivity (P-value forrs2411377=0.05). FIG. 2a shows the relationship between paclitaxelsensitivity and genomic DNA copy number in this part of chromosome 17. Asignificant number of cell lines (8 out of 14) that showed resistance topaclitaxel had an increase in gene amplification within the region (asindicated by a diamond). The heatmap generated by the analysis showed agenomic DNA copy number of least four in this region. None of the celllines showing sensitity to paclitaxel had a significant increase ingenomic DNA copy number in this region. FIG. 2b shows similar data forMMAE sensitivity.

Example 5 Identification of Candidate Genes in the Interval

The chromosomal region from 17q21.31 to 17q21.33 encodes approximately100 expressed transcripts according to the UC Santa Cruz Genome Browser(http://genome.ucsc.edu). Based on the principle that functionallyrelevant genes in regions of amplification should exhibit a concomitantincrease in mRNA expression, this list was filtered down to 24 genesthat showed significant overexpression upon amplification: ABCC3,COL1A1, CROP, EAP, EPN3, F1113855, F1120920, HOXB7, LOC201191, ITGB3,KIAA0924, KPNB1, LOC400604, LOC81558, MGC11242, MGC15396, NDP52, PDK2,PHB, PP1R9B, SLC35B1, SPOP, TOB1, WNT3. An example of significantlyhigher expression of the candidate gene ABCC3 (using Affymetrixexpression probe set 208161_s_) in amplified cell lines compared tonon-amplified cell lines is shown in FIG. 3. The 24 genes were subjectedto functional analysis to identify the locus responsible for conferringresistance to taxanes and auristatins.

Example 6 Functional Validation of ABCC3 by RNA Interference

An RNA interference strategy was used to identify the gene responsiblefor mediating resistance to taxanes and auristatins in amplified celllines. The assay employed made use of the fact that treatment of cellswith paclitaxel or MMAE results in a block of cell cycle progression atM-phase that can be assayed by the presence of the mitotic markerphosphorylated histone H3 (33). Phosphorylation at Ser10 of histone H3is tightly correlated with chromosome condensation during M phase, andthe percentage of cells that are positive for pH3 staining, or mitoticindex, can be determined through an immunofluorescence assay. Cellularknockdown of the gene mediating resistance should increase sensitivityof cell lines harboring the amplification to paclitaxel and MMAE andhence result in an accumulation of arrested cells and a higher mitoticindex relative to control treated cells at a given drug concentration.Higher mitotic index correlates with reduction in viability andproliferation determined by other assays (COB and MRL, unpublishedobservations) but is a more specific readout of the anti-mitotic effectsof these drugs. RNAi of 23 of the 24 candidate genes did notreproducibly result in accumulation of arrested cells and increasedmitotic index in EFM-192A cells, but RNAi of ABCC3 resulted in a two tothree fold increase in mitotic index relative to control treatment witha non-targeting control siRNA in the cell lines EFM-192A and ZR75-30(FIG. 4a-b ). In contrast, ABCC3 RNAi did not appreciably alter themitotic index in non-amplified cell lines HCC-1428 and MDA-MB-453 (FIG.4c-d ). Similar results were obtained with MMAE.

Example 7 Overexpression of ABCC3 Causes In Vitro Multidrug Resistance

EVSA-T cells were selected as a model to generate ABCC3-overexpressinglines, since they do not show ABCC3 amplification and express low levelsof ABCC3 transcripts. Three independently derived lines were confirmedto overexpress ABCC3 transcripts and screened for in vitro sensitivityto paclitaxel and MMAE using an ATP-based luminescence assay. In thisexperiment, treatment of ABCC3 overexpressing clones did not result in50% reduction of cell viability in a three day assay so the fold-changein sensitivity was assessed by calculating the concentration thatresulted in half-maximal response, or EC50. The EC50 for the vectorcontrol treated with paclitaxel was 0.2 nM while the EC50 values for theABCC3-expressing lines were 5 nM, 10 nM, and 80 nM, respectively. TheEC50 for the vector control treated with MMAE was 0.05 nM while the EC50values for the ABCC3-expressing lines were 1.5 nM, 12 nM, and 90 nM,respectively.

All three overexpressing cell lines were at least 20-fold less sensitiveto paclitaxel and MMAE based on EC50 values and also showed markedlyless inhibition of cell growth compared to a vector-alone control stablecell line in an ATP-based luminescence assay (FIG. 5).

Example 8 Amplification of ABCC3 Occurs in Breast Tumors

Analysis of the region of chromosome 17 encompassing HER2 and ABCC3 inthe cell line 100K SNP array data suggested that the ABCC3 amplicon wasmost commonly associated with the HER2 amplified subtypes and was notseen in the cell lines classified as luminal or basal-like.

To ensure that ABCC3 amplification was not a cell line specificphenomenon, copy number data at the ABCC3 locus was characterized usingAgilent Array CGH (aCGH) arrays on DNA from 145 primary breast tumors.These tumor samples were also classified into luminal, basal-like, andHER2 subtypes using a predictor based on expression levels of ER, PR andHER2 as described in (32). ABCC3 copy number gains (>3.5 copies) arepresent in 25% of HER2 amplified and 11% of luminal tumors but were notpresent in basal-like tumors.

Example 9 FISH Assay

To confirm the cytogenetic basis of the apparent copy number gainsobserved by SNP and aCGH arrays, a fluorescence in situ hybridization(FISH) assay was developed using a BAC clone (see Example 1) spanningthe ABCC3 locus and FISH analysis was performed on select cell lines and61 primary tumors that had been classified as over-expressing HER2 basedon the HerceptTest (IHC assay, reviewed in (35)). The FISH results fromcell lines corroborated the data obtained from the SNP array and qPCRanalyses. The breast cancer cell line EFM-192A predicted from SNP arraysto have elevated ABCC3 copy number did indeed exhibit a high levelamplification of ABCC3 which is manifested as homogeneously stainingregions (HSRs) with single or multiple integration into variouschromosomes while maintaining single copies of HER2 and ABCC3 onchromosome 17. Cell lines predicted to be diploid for ABCC3 based on SNParray analysis were confirmed to be diploid based on FISH analysis withCEP17 and ABCC3. FISH analysis of the 61 HER2 positive primary tumorsthat were screened for ABCC3 amplification confirmed that elevated copynumber at ABCC3 is common in HER2 positive breast tumors. High levelgene amplification (>2.2 ratio of ABCC3/CEP17) was seen in 25% of thetumors, while an additional 11% of the tumors showed moderate increasesfor ABCC3 (3-7 copies of ABCC3). Interestingly, a number of tumors showevidence of heterogeneity and exhibit cells with both very high levelamplification of ABCC3 alongside cells with diploid copy number ofABCC3.

Example 10 Overexpression of ABCC3 Causes Resistance to DM1

EVSA-T cells were stably transfected with an ABCC3 containing plasmidwhere ABCC3 is expressed at high levels from a cytomegalovirus (CMV)promoter. Overexpression of ABCC3 was confirmed by qRT-PCR. Threeoverexpressing clones and a control cell line were then analyzed forsensitivity to free DM1 in a standard cell viability assay and it wasfound that the overexpressing clones were more resistant to DM1 than thecontrol cell line, consistent with ABCC3 overexpression leading toresistance to this agent (FIG. 7).

Example 11 ABCC3 RNAi Enhances Response to MMAF Antibody Conjugate

EFM192A cells were transfected with ABCC3 siRNA and were subjected totreatment with trastuzamab (Herceptin) conjugated via the drug linkerreagent maleimidocaproyl-valine-citrulline-PAB to MMAF(trastuzamab-mc-vc-PAB-MMAF). The EFM-192A cells transfected with ABCC3siRNA are more sensitive to trastuzamab-mc-vc-PAB-MMAF than cellstransfected with a control siRNA indicating that ABCC3 expression levelscan impact sensitivity to this agent (FIG. 8).

Example 12 ABCC3 RNAi Enhances Response to Free DM1 andTrastuzumab-smcc-DM1 Conjugate

EFM-192A cells transfected with ABCC3 siRNA are more sensitive to eitherfree DM1 or Trastuzumab-smcc-DM1 conjugate than cells transfected with acontrol siRNA (NTC), indicating that ABCC3 expression levels can impactsensitivity to these agents (FIGS. 9a and 9b ).

Example 13 ABCC3 Amplification Status Correlates with T-DM1 Activity

ABCC3 FISH analysis was performed on samples obtained from the T-DM1Phase II (TDM4258G) trial to explore the effect of ABCC3 amplificationon T-DM1 activity in HER2 amplified breast tumors. The TDM4258G trial isa multi-institutional, open-label, single-arm, Phase II study of T-DM1administered by IV infusion to patients with HER2-positive metastaticbreast cancer. The patients in the trial had shown prior progression onHER2-directed therapy. Formalin Fixed Paraffin Embedded (FFPE) archivaltumor tissue samples from the clinical trial was obtained from theclinical investigation sites with appropriate IRB approval and patientconsent.

The FISH assay was performed on the clinical trial samples as describedin Example 1. FIG. 10 shows the data from the analysis of the FISH assaysorted by ratio of ABCC3/CEP17. Those samples with ABCC3/CEP17 ratios of1.8 and above are considered to have ABCC3 amplification. 80% (12/15) ofpatients whose samples showed no amplification of ABCC3 responded totreatment to T-DM1 while 40% (2/5) of patients whose samples showedamplification of ABCC3 responded to T-DM1 treatment. This analysisindicates that ABCC3 amplification status is useful in determining thelikely response of a patient to treatment with T-DM1.

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Although the invention has been described in some detail by way ofillustration and example for purposes of clarity of understanding, thedescriptions and examples should not be construed as limiting the scopeof the invention. The disclosures of all patent and scientificliteratures cited herein are expressly incorporated in their entirety byreference.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for selecting a human patient withHER2-positive breast cancer for treatment with an anti-mitoticchemotherapy agent comprising: a) selecting the human patient withHER2-positive breast cancer by determining in a tumor tissue sampleobtained from the human patient with HER2-positive breast cancer, (i) acopy number of an ABCC3 gene in the tumor tissue sample of less than 3or (ii) an ABCC3 gene amplification value in the tumor tissue sample ofless than 1.8 relative to an amplification value of a centromere 17(CEP17) gene in the tumor tissue sample, and b) treating the selectedhuman patient with HER2-positive breast cancer by administering aneffective amount of an anti-mitotic chemotherapy agent, wherein theanti-mitotic chemotherapy agent is selected from the group consisting oftaxanes, maytansinoids, auristatins and analogs and derivatives thereof.2. The method of claim 1, wherein the copy number of the ABCC3 gene isdetermined by fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH), Southern Blot,immunohistochemisty (IHC), polymerase chain reaction (PCR), quantitativePCR (qPCR), quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR), comparative genomichybridization, microarray based comparative genomic hybridization, orligase chain reaction (LCR).
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein thetaxane is selected from the group consisting of paclitaxel anddocetaxel.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein the auristatin is selectedfrom the group consisting of monomethyl auristatin E (MMAE) andmonomethyl auristatin F (MMAF).
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein themaytansinoid is selected from the group consisting of DM1 and DM4. 6.The method of claim 1, wherein the anti-mitotic chemotherapy agent isconjugated to an antibody.
 7. The method of claim 6, wherein theanti-mitotic chemotherapy agent-antibody conjugate is amaytansinoid-anti-Her2 antibody conjugate.
 8. The method of claim 7,wherein the maytansinoid-anti-Her2 antibody conjugate istrastuzumab-DM1.